The Calm in the Storm
by Queen of the Scorpions
Summary: All of Thomas's dark sides surface and everything falls to shit! Sides with Super Powers! Introducing sides of my own invention! (Sanders Sides Fanfiction) Please Review, Patton begs you. (Prinxiety, Logicality, Demus) (Officially Novel length- Buckle up Buttercup) Now rated M for Language and dark themes (Nothing sexual)
1. When a Heart Changes

Chapter One

When a Heart Changes

"That idea is completely idiotic, what's gotten into you, Thomas?" Logan pushed his glasses farther up his nose.

"I agree with Logan, actually. And what _is_ your hair right now? It's awful, you do realize thousands of people are going to see you, right?" Roman agreed.

"And you didn't start off your video the way you usually do… and you ended it two seconds after you started it." Patton added, concerned.

"The last time you were acting like this, it was because…" Logan stopped in the middle of his sentence. The three sides looked at each other, sharing knowing expressions.

"Virgil, why don't you come down here kiddo, so we can see that cool makeup of yours." Patton called up the stairs in his happy, humorous voice.

"Sure thing Pat." Virgil appeared on the stairs with his chin in his hand, and everyone gasped. He wasn't in his regular purple and black hoodie, he was wearing an oversized lilac shirt of thin, flowy material with white accents on the sleeves that hung an inch past his fingertips and pants of the same style and colors. His eye makeup had been done drastically differently; instead of a thick, wide layer of black on his cheeks beneath his eyes, he had a thin line of purple directly under his eyes so that if he closed his eyes his lashes would have covered it. The headphones that he usually had were no longer black and basic, they were lilac and white with speakers in the shape of cat ears connected to the band. Patton let out a happy squeal.

"Oh, my goodness Virgil, you look so cute!" He cried, practically dancing on the spot.

"Thanks, Pat." He beamed. Roman's jaw had dropped, and Logan was looking at him like he had never seen him clearly before.

"What in the wide world of Disney are you wearing?" Roman screeched.

"What, you don't like it?" Virgil asked. "I can change it."

"Noooooooooooooooooo." Patton whisper screamed.

"I don't not like it, but what?" Roman blinked. Logan still seemed unable to process the situation.

"I love the knew outfit, Virgil." Thomas grinned.

"Thanks Thomas." Virgil said happily.

"This. Is. NOT OKAY!" Logan suddenly yelled. "We need to figure out how to put you back to normal as soon as possible, Thomas is being left without his natural fight or flight responses again, and that's incredibly dangerous. I mean just look at- Thomas what are you doing?" For Thomas had taken his shirt and shoes off and flopped down on the couch.

"Going to sleep." Thomas replied.

"You can't go to sleep yet, we have five hours of daylight to do stuff." Virgil said brightly, springing up to his feet. "Come on get up, let's go make artwork or make a song or another video or something."

"Yes." Roman declared regally. "For once, I agree with Virgil. We have time to do something, so let's get out there and make our dreams come true."

"Are you forgetting that Thomas has no fight or flight instincts right now?" Logan said crossly. "We can't do anything productive without anxiety. So let's just try to figure out what's wrong with Virgil."

"We should try and help Virgil because he's one of us, not just because we need anxiety." Patton said gently.

"You're both right." Thomas said. "So let's hear it Virgil, what's bugging you?" Virgil tipped his head to one side.

"What do you mean? I just decided to change my look up a bit. I can change it back if you want, I've still got the hoodie and the eyeshadow." His voice was a bit disappointed.

"That's not it, kiddo. We don't mind the change in clothes, it's your actions that are worrying us." Patton said in his concerned dad voice.

"You know, if you're trying to cover up your insecurities because the rest of us don't seem to have them, you should know that it's okay to feel nervous… and Thomas, please put a shirt on." Logan said.

"If you say so." Thomas shrugged, and pulled a wrinkled T-shirt on over his head.

"I'm not covering up my insecurities." Virgil responded.

"It's okay to tell the truth, Virgil. I promise none of us are going to be rude. No, not even me. I give you my word." Roman said dramatically. Virgil smiled a bit.

"But I'm not trying to cover up-"

"It's okay, Virgil. We recognize that you're strong and important even with your worries, and that they might even be what makes you so very necessary to us." Logan repositioned his glasses again.

"Hold on guys, let Virgil speak." Patton said.

"Thanks Popstar." Virgil responded. "I'm trying to tell you that I'm not hiding anything right now. I actually do feel really great… but if you guys need me to, I'm sure I can find some way to go back to being miserable." The cheerieness never left his voice.

"Hold on, miserable?" Thomas interjected. "Do you mean that you were feeling miserable that whole time? Even after you really became part of our group?" Virgil nodded.

"I did. I felt like I was alone and that even though you guys accepted me as an important function, that I wasn't really a part of everything because I was so different and negative. I was really thinking about it last night too, sorry if I kept you up Thomas, and when I woke up this morning I felt completely different… I felt like I could do anything and I saw everything differently. Even my room had changed. Everything was so bright and pretty that I couldn't bear to spoil the mood by putting on my usual dark clothes. I made all of this up for me and then I realized that it made me feel even better to be wearing bright, happy things."

"Well, I'm certainly glad that you're feeling better, son, but we love you no matter how you feel." Patton said gently.

"Thanks, and I know you need me to be your anxiety, but I don't know how to get back to what I used to be."

"I do." Everyone jumped and began looking around the room for the unrecognized voice, besides Virgil.

"I don't want help from you, Rebellion." He said firmly crossing his arms. "You're probably the reason for this aren't you?" He demanded. Everyone was looking at him now. Rebellion laughed and slowly rose up from the ground right by the bannister of Virgil's stairs. He was wearing a black muscle shirt with slash marks in it over a grey undershirt and ripped up jeans. He had a raccoon tattooed on his left shoulder and wore silver dog tags around his neck.

"I didn't do it. I'd say it was probably Judaes."

"Who?" Everyone besides Virgil and Rebellion chorused together.

"Deceit." The other two replied together.

"Yes?" Judaes slowly rose up on the other side of Virgil's stairs.

"Hold on, who even is this guy? Rebellion?" Thomas asked. They all looked to Virgil.

"He's one of your dark sides. He loves to disobey and ignore rules." Virgil answered.

"Judaes, did you change his personality?" Rebellion asked him.

"Why yes I did " He answered.

"Aha! You confessed, vial serpent!" Roman declared. "Put him right once more and give us our Virgil back."

"Actually, Roman, he didn't confess." Virgil said gently. "Judaes isn't capable of telling the truth. No matter what he says, it has to be a lie. It's kind of sad if you think about it." He patted Judaes's shoulder, making him look at him strangely.

"Aw, that is sad." Patton said.

"Do you know who did this to him?" Logan asked.

"I do, but if I had to guess; I would say that it was not Chaos." He answered.

"I've never been a part of you conversation before." Another new voice. This time the side was wearing a suit of black armor from head to toe with streaks of orange accenting it. "We used to be such good friends, Virgil, and yet you never did call me to help out, or even just visit." He sighed dramatically.

"I'm sorry, maybe we could-" Roman cut him off.

"Who is this?" He asked.

"This is the side of Thomas that likes to break things and cause panic." Rebellion answered.

"I didn't even know I had a side like that to me." Thomas said. 'We should be recording this… did I ever turn off that camera?" Virgil leaned toward the camera and squinted at it.

"No, it's still rolling."

"Nice." Thomas grinned.

"Are you not at all worried that you have these hidden sides, Thomas?" Patton asked.

"Nope!" He replied.

"Of course you aren't." Logan sighed.

"Well, he is missing all of his worry. It's not like he can recognize that it's going to cause a problem." Roman reasoned.

"Why am I here, though I don't mind having a friendly chat with Virgil and Naturnor. I haven't seen either of you for so long."

"Yeah, because no one likes you." Rebellion replied.

"Hold on there, kiddos. Who's Naturnor?" Patton asked.

"I am." Rebellion nodded.

"Why am I here?" Chaos asked again.

"Because we need to know if you altered Virgil's personality." Logan replied.

"I most certainly did not. I liked him just the way he was thank you. Like I said, he and I were best friends before he joined the light sides. Why would I make him more good? If I'd've done it, I'd've changed him back into what he was before… Paranoia and Terror." Chaos replied.

"That's fair enough argument." Logan replied. "And Deceit… sorry, Judaes?" Judaes shook his head. "And Judaes gets a clear because he has to lie, but we haven't heard any sort of evidence from you, I forgot your name, Rebellion. How do we know that he's not lying to us?"

"First, it's Naturnor. Second, because I would have never done this to my angsty little storm cloud. Like Chaos over there, I liked him the way he was. He's kind of an inspiration to me you know? Breaking the mold, taking darkness and using it for good… just because I don't like rules doesn't mean I'm a bad or disrespectful person." He crossed his arms and blew his hair out of his face.

"I believe him." Both Virgil and Patton said at the same time.

"Well, there's only one side left…" Virgil said slowly.

"Ooooh, are we call him down?" Chaos asked excitedly?

"Yes!" Judaes yelled. "That's an excellent idea!" His eyes were wide, and he looked panicked."

"Who are we talking about?" Logan asked. Chaos opened his mouth to reply, but Judaes covered it.

"Don't say his name." Virgil said urgently.

"Lucius." Naturnor said automatically, clapping his hands over his mouth. "I'm sorry!" He shouted. "I didn't mean to! When someone says not to do something I have to do it!"

"Which is exactly how it ought to be." A third new voice. This time he had appeared suddenly, much like virgil does, sitting on the couch. He was clad in a suit, with a blackened crown settled between two devil horns on his head. Everyone jumped, yelling out in fear… besides Thomas, he just kind of sat there, perfectly chill.

"Who is that?" Thomas asked.

"I am Lucius, your selfish, ambitious side, the ruler of the dark sides, second only to you my good man." He nodded at Thomas.

"You're royalty?" Roman gasped. "Oh my Disney, I've waited my whole life for this moment!"

"Cool." Thomas said brightly. "I didn't know you existed."

"Dear, dear, we do have a dilemma here, don't we? Don't tell me you're falling down on the job, Virgil… and what _are_ you wearing? You look atrocious. I swear you would have never been caught dead in a getup like that working under me."

"Woah, be nice Lucius." Thomas said immediately.

"Yes, sir." Lucius sneered sarcastically drawing out the word sir. Thomas made a weird expression as though he were not used to being called 'sir' by anyone… because he wasn't.

"My lord," Chaos began, "We have just been alerted to the fact that Virgil has had his personality completely changed."

"Sure have." Virgil said brightly.

"What a pity." Lucius sneered. "He's drifted even further from the darkness. I was so hoping we'd be able to draw him back… but this change seems, unnatural, and since my dark sides are all here, I'm assuming we're pointing fingers now? If you're trying to accuse one of us, ask yourselves this; who would want to turn a storm cloud into a butterfly? The light or the dark?" With that he sunk back down through the sofa cushions.


	2. Correlation and Causation

Chapter Two

Correlation or Causation

The rest of the dark sides each sunk through the floor back to the dark domaine of the mind palace and the light sides were left to stare at each other suspiciously… or, at least, Logan and Roman were left to stare at each other suspiciously. Thomas had a big goofy grin on his face.

"Roman, Logan, we can't let Lucius tear us apart from each other, he's trying to make us fall into chaos-" Chaos began rising up from the floor and Virgil shook his head, "so he and the dark sides can replace us as Thomas's main functions. He'll say anything to make us fall into disarray." Virgil implored.

"Besides, I think we should have more trust in each other. We know that none of us would do this." Patton said gently.

"There must be some sort of outside power at work here." Logan mussed, rubbing his chin in thought. "Think back everyone. What happened lately that was out of the ordinary?"

"Joan didn't call us back since two days ago." Patton offered.

"That wouldn't be it." Logan dismissed it. "That would only make Virgil more anxious."

"We tried a new superfood to make us less tired." Roman said.

"That would improve our mood, but adding proteins and vitamins that we were missing would only make things run smoother." Logan replied.

"Virgil turned into a second Patton." Thomas said. Logan blinked with a disbelieving, flabbergasted look on his face.

"We're trying to figure out why that happened, Thomas." He said.

"See, I knew it was a dumb thing to say, but I didn't really care about being judged."

"Good for you Thomas." Patton and Virgil said together.

"No, not good for you Thomas!" Roman interjected. "Being confident is one thing, but having no filter or sense of shame will make us into a fool."

"And we could get into a lot of dangerous situations." Logan added.

"Really? It doesn't seem like such of a bad thing to me." Thomas said.

"Oh, kay, yeah of course it doesn't." Roman groaned.

"Oh!" virgil suddenly gasped. "I don't know if this helps, but do you guys remember that weird girl that came to our door and read us that poem about fear? She was talking about the removal of fear."

"That's got to be it!" Roman announced dramatically. "She was an ugly old hag in disguise of a fair young maiden."

"No." Logan dead panned. "She was not a witch."

"Sure she was." Roman argued.

"She might not have been a witch, but maybe we could ask her about what's happening. She wrote a poem about getting rid of fear, so maybe she'll know what to do." Patton suggested.

"Great idea, Popstar." Virgil agreed.

"Okay, that at least is a bit logical, but we don't even know who this woman is, so we can't really do that." Logan said.

"Darn, I thought I had that one." Patton said, still cheerful.

"I so did too." Virgil responded kindly.

"Aw, thanks Virge." Patton smiled.

"Hey, Klonopin, Serotonin! Pay attention." Logan said.

"Klonopin and Serotonin?" Roman repeated.

"What does that mean?" Thomas asked with a laugh.

"Klonopin is an antidepressant and Serotonin is a natural feel-good chemical." Logan explained as though that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, good try." Patton beamed.

"It makes sense." Virgil said fairly.

"Can we just focus, please?" Logan began. "We need to- Thomas!" For Thomas had wandered off toward the stairs and Virgil had stepped aside to let him by.

"What?" Thomas asked. "Are we still making a video?" Virgil leaned toward the camera again.

"Yes." He replied.

"It's not even about the video anymore." Logan groaned.

"Come on, Thomas." Roman begged. "Come back down here and help us figure out what happened to Virgil."

"Yeah, we need to help him." Patton agreed.

"Oh, right." Thomas said, hopping down off the stairs.

"How are we supposed to solve a problem if we don't know what started it, Logan?" Roman asked.

"I'm not sure what to do either, Roman. Aren't you supposed to be the ideas guy?"

"Well, yes, but you just shot down my idea." He replied crossly.

"She is not a witch." Logan maintained.

"See? This is why I can't work with you." Roman growled.

"Guys, I don't think this is going anywhere." Thomas said, pursing his lips.

"Well, maybe we just need a new point of view." Virgil suggested.

"Yeah, Roman, isn't that you're department?" Logan countered.

"I'm trying, you're getting in my way!" Roman yelled crossly.

"Don't be yelling at each other please." Virgil begged.

"I'm not getting-" Logan began, getting cut off by Roman, who was shouting;

"I'm not yelling at him, I'm just trying-" He was then cut off by Virgil who, before he could say much was drowned out by a sudden, jumbled shouting match between Logan and Roman.

"Okay!" Patton called. "I think we need some quiet time everyone." He tossed a Disney coloring book to Roman and a rubix cube to Logan who both quieted. "A little bit of no talking time, okay?" He tossed a fidget cube to Virgil who caught it, then plopped down on the floor and began happily clicking away at the buttons on it. After a moment of the three of them quietly playing with the objects thrown to them, Logan had finished with his rubix cube and looked up.

"We can't just pretend we don't have a problem." He tossed the rubix cube behind him.

"He's right." Roman agreed, dropping the coloring book, on which he had sketched a gorgeous water lily(even though the picture had been of Cinderella originally). "Virgil won't just snap back to normal because of a fidget- oh my god!" Virgil was back to his normal self, his dark eye shadow, purple and black hoodie, and plain black headphones. He was completely immersed in his fidget cube, flicking a switch repeatedly and clicking a button ferociously.

"What is my hair right now?" Thomas demanded.

"I got you Thomas." Roman said, throwing him a hairbrush. Thomas ran it through his hair feverishly until it was decent.

"Thanks Roman." He tossed the brush back to him.

"Okay, Virgil, do you know what caused your sudden changes?" Logan asked urgently.

"Uh, what?" Virgil looked up from his toy, still impulsively clicking a button on it.

"Why were you acting kind of like, well kind of like me?" Patton asked.

"I wasn't acting like you." Virgil wrinkled his nose up. "When did I even get down here? If we're not doing a video, I'm going back up to my room."

"Oh, dang. The camera's still rolling. Thomas said, reaching to turn it off.

"Hold on, keep it rolling." Roman moved his hand in a circle motion.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"Well, we don't know what's going to happen yet." Logan replied.

"Okay," Thomas said slowly, "but I don't have much battery left."

"Virgil, can you remember anything about the last half hour or so?" Logan asked him.

"Yeah." He said slowly, making an expression of 'duh'.

"What were you doing?" Roman asked urgently.

"Listening to Evanescence." He shrugged. "And messing with this." He tossed the fidget cube up and caught it again.

"Is that what you normally do?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Yeah, why?" Virgil responded.

"Well, it's just that you were acting so… different earlier." Patton said.

"What do you mean? I wasn't even down here. I told you I was in my room. For the last couple hours."

"You can't have been." Logan shook his head.

"Well, my camera's going to run out of battery, so how about this? I plug in my camera and turn it off. We'll hang out down here, and if something does happen, we'll turn it on again." Thomas reasoned. "That way, it won't be dead when something does happen."

"Okay, fair enough." Logan conceded. Thomas turned off the camera, and took it upstairs to charge. "My question is how did a fidget cube fix him?" Logan puzzled, scowling and running a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean?" Virgil demanded as Thomas came back down the stairs.

"I mean just what I said." Logan replied.

"Maybe it's through an emotional connection to the fidget cube, he does always mess with it whenever he's particularly anxious." Patton suggested.

"I really don't think that a fidget cube could turn him back to normal." Logan said.

"Will somebody please tell me what is going on?" Virgil pressed.


	3. Dilusion and Depression

Chapter Three

The Delusion and Depression

"Virgil, you might want to sink this one out." Roman said casually, looking down at his nails. "You won't really help much anyway." Virgil's face slowly faded from his confused and slightly indigent expression into a blank one that was obviously intended to cover up hurt and sadness.

"Oh, yeah, sure, whatever." Virgil murmured.

"Woah, hey! Roman!" Thomas exclaimed.

"It's okay, Virgil. You can stay." Patton said gently.

"Well, objectively he wouldn't be very helpful today." Logan said. Virgil sighed deeply and, before anyone could say anything, he sunk down through the floor.

"What the what, you guys?" Thomas yelled exasperatedly.

"How could you say that?" Patton asked, sadly. "Virgil's a part of our family, and he's going through something right now. I think you really hurt his feelings."

"I wasn't trying to make him feel less than uh…" Logan shuffled through his flashcards swiftly, "Gucci?" Roman shook his head and Logan gave a sigh. "I was only trying to say that since he doesn't remember what happened, he wouldn't be able to help. He must've misunderstood me."

"See, I care about Virgil's feelings. Truly, I do, but here's the thing. I don't really care." His expression turned annoyed as he continued examining his fingernails.

"Roman!" Thomas' voice was surprised. Roman looked up at Thomas and everyone gasped. His face and slid into an uncharacteristically Virgil-like sneer of annoyance. His clothing colors had changed. The white was now slate grey and the royal red turned a rich purple. Nearly half a minute passed in silence, in which Thomas clicked pulled out his phone and began taking a video, that was finally broken by Roman.

"What?" He asked. Even his voice had changed. Though still regal and elegant, it was deeper and more sinister. It had none of the flirty, light-hearted tones that it usually did. Just as he did, a similar sounding voice chuckled and said,

"My, my, my, what have we here?" Lucius had appeared again.

"What are you doing here?" Virgil had reappeared on the stairs.

"What's going on?" Patton squeaked.

"I- I don't know." Logic admitted, flabbergasted.

"Welcome back, Prince." Lucius bowed slightly to Roman, who smirked and flicked his hair away from his face.

"He turned into delusion?" Virgil cried, stumbling backward slightly. "Why- How did you do that to him?"

"I did nothing." Lucius sneered.

"Liar!" Virgil challenged, but he was pressed against the wall in fear. "P-put him back!"

"I'm flattered, really, that you think I possess the power to do something like this." Lucius said. "To bring the mighty Prince Delusion back?"

"If he had that power, you'd be back to being Terror and Paranoia." Roman smirked.

"Terror and Paranoia?" Patton repeated weakly. "N-no. Virgil's too nice to be Terror."

"Is is the operative word here, isn't it." Lucius asked slyly.

"Paranoia was called Virgo." Roman began. "He was the thing that kept all of you in check, the one who kept us dark sides incharge when you faltered. He locked away you, Logan." He pointed his finger at Logan, " And turned you into cunning. He replaced you with Lucius, Patton." He nodded at him. "Only you light sides just can't remember."

"Falsehood." Logan crossed his arms. "It can't be true. Thomas was never like that."

"That you remember." Lucius sneered.

"I wasn't a bad guy!" Thomas yellped.

"Of course not." Delusion drawled. "Your light sides always gained control again somehow. We were only ever in place when something drastic in your life made your light sides to weak to help you. We weren't in command all the time. Virgo was good, but he wasn't that-"

"Shut up!" Virgil seemed to have had exploded. "My name is not Virgo and it never was! I hate that name, I hate it! You put Roman right again and leave!"

"Oh, and who's going to make me?" Lucius challenged, drawing himself into a defiant position.

"You're forgetting something." Vigil growled. "I'm not just anxiety. I'm also... THOMAS'S FIGHT OR FLIGHT INSTINCT!" He lunged forward and decked Lucius with a single blow to the face. A second later, lucius sat up, blood trickling from his nose.

"How dare you?" He demanded.

"This needs to stop! Now!" Thomas stepped in between Virgil and Lucius. "What is going on here?"

"Simple." Lucius claimed, wiping away his blood with the back of his hand. "Roman has been turned into the darker, more powerful version of himself."

"How do we put him right again?" Patton asked, immediately.

"Even if I knew, do you think I would tell you?" Lucius asked. "I'm merely here to collect him and bring him back to the dark domain.

"You can't do that!" Patton protested.

"I won't let you." Virgil growled, drawing back his fist again.

"Stop, Virgil!" Logan warned. "You can't make him listen, only Thomas can do that."

"And I will." Thomas added. He glared at Lucius. "I'm not letting you take Roman away from us." Lucius chuckled.

"But, sir," he drawled sarcastically and mockingly, "he isn't Roman anymore. What kind of a name is Roman any way? Come now, Caesar, it's time for us to go."

"No." Thomas argued. "Roman, you stay right here." Thomas commanded. Roman crossed his arms but didn't move. "You get out of here, Lucius." He said firmly. Lucius rolled his eyes, but it seemed he had no choice but to listen, because he sunk down through the floor again. Roman huffed.

"So why am I still here, anyway?" He sneered.

"Because, you're a part of our family, kiddo." Patton said quietly, putting a hand on Roman's shoulder.

"Yes, and we need you Roman. We're going to put you right."

"Sure, good luck with that." He snarled, forcefully slapping Patton's hand away from him. A hurt expression crossed Patton's face. Virgil stuck his hand out and grabbed Roman's ear pulling his head sideways.

"You knock that off. You can be mad at me all you want, but Patton didn't do anything, so leave him alone."

"Argh! Let go of me, you brute!" Roman snarled, pulling away from him.

"We need to figure out how to fix him." Thomas said.

"Well I don't know about me, but I know exactly how to fix you." Roman pointed at Thomas. "There are perks that come with being a dark side." He sang mockingly. He snapped his fingers and whispered darkly, "Sweet dreams, Thomas." The room began to spin, colors and objects blurring together, then everything came to a standstill. They were no longer in the living room, or even in their house at all. They stood in a huge open field of grass and wildflowers. There was a waterfall behind them, a dark, shadowy forest to their left, a sheer cliff face to their right, and a large tower atop a hill before them. Virgil, Logan, Patton, and Thomas were there, but Roman was not.

"What just happened?" Virgil demanded. His breath became coming in quick, shallow, gasps. "What's going on? What do we do? Are we going to die?"

"Get ahold of yourself, Virgil. Remember the Yerkes-Dodson curve." Logan warned.

"Just take a deep breath, Virge." Patton comforted him. Virgil complied, slowing down his breathing, filling his lungs slowly, and exhaling at the same speed. "That's it, there we go."

"Thanks." Virgil murmured. "You good, Thomas?" Thomas nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied. "If you calm do, so do I."

"The question still stands… where are we?" Virgil repeated.

"Good question." Logan pushed his glasses further up his nose. "I'm not too sure, but I have an idea."

"Yeah?" Vigil questioned.

"Well, he called Roman Delusion, didn't he?" Thomas nodded. "So we must be inside a sort of self-induced diurnal landscape delusion. In other words, we're stuck inside a daydream."

"Well, that can't be too bad. We'll just figure out where the story's happening, play it through until the happy ending, and then the daydream will be over, and we'll be fine." Patton grinned.

"Patton, that's illogical, stupid, cliche, and over romanticized." Logan said.

"And since Roman put us into this mess, that means that you must be right." Virgil concluded sarcastically.

"Hold on, you might be right." Thomas said.

"Really, Thomas?" Logan sighed exasperatedly.

"Think about it, this is Roman after all." Thomas pressed. "This is exactly the kind of thing he would do."

"And, if nothing else, this could put him back to normal and he can release us." Patton added.

"How so?" Logan asked.

"Hey, I think I know what you're gettin' at there, Thomas. When Virgil's personality changed, it went back to normal after doing something that he usually does." Patton explained.

"When did my personality change?" Virgil demanded.

"Earlier today." Logan said matter of factly. "For some reason, it seems, you couldn't remember anything about it after turning back into yourself." Vigil's face turned fearful.

"D-did I turn in-into my dark side?" He stuttered fearfully. "That's why you didn't want me around anymore, right?"" He took a step backward. The purple in his hoodie was beginning to fade to grey.

"Hey, Virge… You okay there, buddy?" Patton asked worriedly.

"I- I'm sorry. I know why you guys hate me, I'm evil! I'm evil!" His hands jumped up to the sides of his head, grasping at his hair. Tears began forming at his eyes.

"Virgil?" Thomas asked. "What's going on?"

"I'm probably not even a lightside. It would explain why you all hate me so much."

"Virgil, no!" Patton shouted. "No, that's not true. We don't hate you!"

"Patton, it's fine. It's okay. I don't deserve you guys anyway."

"Virgil, stop this. You're talking nonsense." Logan argued. Virgil seemed not to have heard him, though.

"You don't deserve me weighing you down either." He wiped his tears away with the back of his hand, but they were quickly replaced by more."I'm- I'm sorry. I hope you f-fix Roman without me." He covered his eyes with his sleeve, turned, and ran in the direction of the shady forest, sobbing audibly.

"Virgil! Come back!" Patton yelled, running after him.

"Patton, stop!" Thomas yelled. Patton, however, didn't seem to have heard him. They both disappeared into the shadows.

"What just happened?" Thomas asked Logan as they both took off running toward the forest.

"It seems to me that he's reverted back to one of his beta forms; depression." He replied.


	4. Fanciful Fantasies

Chapter Four

Fanciful Fantasies

"What do you mean, Beta form? Do you mean this is what he used to be like?" Thomas asked. They too crossed over the threshold of the forest.

"That's exactly what I mean, Thomas." Logan replied, nodding.

"Okay, so he's turned from anxiety to depression, so why haven't I changed any… did I change?"

"No, you haven't. If I had to guess, I'd say that it was because we're in a day dream. You shouldn't be affected by our changes." Thunder rumbled overhead.

"Wasn't it just sunny out?" Thomas pointed out.

"Yes, but this is a daydream. As loathe as I am to admit it, the amount of Logic that applies here is infinitesimal. See, there? I used it right this time."

"Okay, fair enough." Thomas conceded. "What do we do?"

"We need to find Virgil and Patton before we do anything else… then I have a hypothesis to test."

"What's your idea, Logan?"

"I've been thinking over what happened, and I realized that Virgil and Roman can't have just changed personalities."

"What?"

"Think about it. It wasn't just their behavior that was altered. Their voices and appearances were too."

"Yeah, that's right. So are you thinking that they were actually replaced or something?"

"That's what I believe. These sides must be long hidden sides of yours that aren't even supposed to exist anymore. The Virgil from the beginning of today was probably the embodiment of your lost innocence from your childhood. The Virgil we're dealing with now is the beta form of Virgil, not really him. They are, in a sense, the same person of a different age that cannot exist in the same entity at one time."

"Wait… what?" Thomas asked. "Could you run that by me again?"

"I can't really explain it until we find the others." From ahead, a loud scream sliced through the tensely silenced woods.

"Patton!" Both Thomas and Logan yelled, picking up speed as they did. A moment later, they burst into a clearing in the forest where Patton and Virgil stood, staring up at the sky. Thomas and Logan followed their lead to see an enormous dragon with bumpy green skin and ragged black cloth hanging off its back.

"It's a dragon witch!" Patton yelled. Virgil was back to his purple hoodie, and it seemed that he had come back to his normal self. He had his back pressed against a tree and was shaking. He blinked hard and shook his head, roughly. He lunged forward, grabbed Patton, and pulled him backward.

"Run!" He commanded. Logan and Thomas turned on heel and ran, Patton and Virgil right behind them. The dragon roared and a jet of green light scorched the ground before them. "Watch out for the beams!" Virgil yelled. "It's an instant kill like Avada Kedavra. It has other spells too. That's what just turned me into depression back there, some sort of mind control."

"What does a dragon want with us?" Logan demanded, shoving a branch out of his way.

"It's not the dragon's fault." Patton said. "It's delusion. He was controlling the dragon!"

"Wait, he's here too?" Thomas yelped.

"Yeah, except he's gone crazy...er than he already was earlier." Virgil growled. They passed back into the light.

"Where do we go?" Thomas asked.

"Indoors!" Logan responded. "The dragon's far too big to fit inside any sort of building." An ear-splitting roar filled the air, and the dragon landed in front of them, causing the Earth to shake beneath their feet. Thomas collected himself off the ground, as he was the only one who fell over, and looked up at the rider of the dragon. Roman was indeed there, standing atop the dragon's head. He was now in quite the different getup. He looked more like a sorcerer than a prince now, in robes of white that fell down to his feet with chains of rich purple hanging off his waist. He was holding a long, white scepter with deep purple markings and a matching dragon's head on the top.

"Ladies, Lords, and non-binary royalty, watch me as beat this geek and do it joyously." It was Roman's voice that had said it, but Delusion had not opened his mouth. The voice, in fact, had come from behind them, not in front. Each of them looked over their shoulders to see Princy in his usual attire. He had with him, however, a sword and shield that he had not possessed before. "I'll vanquish any villain with the gall to try to toy with me, ask the dragon witch, it knows the drill. You're screwed royally." He finished mockingly.

"Princy!" Patton gasped, smiling.

"What? No! This can't be! How did you escape the tower?" Delusion demanded.

"Well the towers not that tall… and there are vines all over the walls… right underneath the window… that wasn't locked in any way… or even closed." Roman pointed out.

"Wow, you didn't even close the window?" Virgil asked, laughingly.

"Why you little- wait, that doesn't explain how you discovered your powers so quickly." Delusion said.

"Powers?" Roman repeated. "What powers?"

"The samurai powers I gave you to make the daydream more fun." He answered.

"Oh… I've always been like this." Roman shrugged. "I'm just good with a sword." Delusion face-palmed.

"None of you figure anything out, right?" He asked.

"I have an uncanny knack for sensing danger, where it is, what it is, and why exactly it's so dangerous… oh wait, that's just me on a regular." Virgil rolled his eyes.

"So you're telling me that the primary powers I gave you are just slightly exaggerated traits that you all already possess?"

"It depends, what are our powers." Logan raised an eyebrow.

"I can't tell you that… but I can tell you where to receive you real powers."

"Can you just explain what we're doing here like a normal person?" Virgil asked, annoyed.

"Fine. You five are no fun." Delusion flipped his hair out of his face. "I've set up a number of tasks for you that follow a complicated storyline that you must complete in order earn one of your upgraded powers, new and more powerful weapons, or clues to find your missing friend."

"Missing friend?" Patton repeated. "None of us our missing." He looked around as if to verify the truth of that statement.

"None of you are yet… but a lot can change over the exposition and rising action of a story." Delusion sneered. "Well, the first task was for the four of you to make it out of the forest before the dragon witch devoured you… good job, you did it." He grinned, waved his staff, and confetti of purple and black shot out of it. "The award for the first task was supposed to be me telling you Patton's power, and where Roman was being held. Since you've already got Roman back, I'll just tell you what Patton has." He waved his staff a again and a large blue heart with glasses fizzled into view. "You may have noticed earlier, Patton, but the sides around you are affected by your emotion."

"We kind of already are, I mean if Patton's sad, even Virgil and Logan get all lovey-dovey with him." Thomas pointed out. Delusion sighed.

"This is different. Patton can make other sides happier, but he can also make sides revert to their beta or dark forms, whichever one fits the mood at the moment." He rolled his eyes. The heart in front of him shrunk down, and soared over to Patton, attaching itself to his shirt.

"Ooh, what is this for?" Patton poked it.

"It means you're a higher level. Your level is as high as the number of patches on your shirts. Thomas, you're at a disadvantage because you didn't have one to begin with, so I'll give you one now, just to be fair. A green "TS" patch appeared on his shirt.

"Cool." He nodded.

"The second task was supposed to be helping Roman escape from the tower… but, seeing as he already did that by himself, you don't have to. I'll give Roman his reward anyway since he did technically do it… I may be a dark side, but a still play fair… most of the time. Your reward is the phoenix ability for you sword. It's your job to figure out how to do it." He waved his staff and granted Roman another badge as well.

"What if we don't want to play?" Virgil asked with his signature disgusted look.

"Any of you who don't play will be stuck here forever… and before any of you ask, yes, I can actually do that."

"Oh, great." Virgil said sarcastically.

"It shouldn't be too bad, Virgil. I made all of your characters to match your personalities. If there's anything you want to change about yours, just let me know… I always did have quite the soft spot for you. The darkness within the light, you're my favorite."

"What? Why is Virgil your favorite? We're the most alike." Roman protested.

"Roman, he's the bad guy, why do you even care?" Logan pointed out.

"Virgil's always everyone's favorite." Roman murmured, but it seemed that no one had heard him.

"Now, let's get you all into your character costumes, okay?" Delusion waved his staff dramatically. Waves of white and purple smoke filled the air, and when it cleared, everyone was wearing something else. Roman was dressed as a samurai, robes of red silk beneath his armor and a katana with red silk wrapped around the hilt in his sheath. His two badges were on the chest plate of his armor. Logan was wearing a long sleeved black shirt and long and black pants that were tucked into heavy black boots. He had a large bag strapped to his back, along with a quiver full of arrows and a large bow. His badge was on the left leg of his pants. Patton was wearing an oversized, light grey sweater with cat ears on the hood and paw prints stitched into the sleeves where they fell over his hands. His two badges were on his right shoulder, and on his left was a light blue cross like the ones on hospitals. There was a small dog sitting at his feet. Thomas was clad in light green armor that covered only his shoulders and legs over an average, white T-shirt. There was a wooden staff strapped to his back on which his badge stood proud. A shield had been painted on the left shoulder of his armor. Virgil's clothing wasn't visible under the long, black cloak he wore. When he spread out his arms, it was revealed that his was wearing a loose, purple shirt and loose black pants. His shoes somewhat resembled socks, as they were made of cloth, and were black and purple. He hands were covered by fingerless, black gloves with a grey and purple storm cloud stitched into both of them. Around his waist, was a black rope that was hanging with small bags and pouches. He let his arms fall back to his sides, and the cloak fell closed again. He smiled ever so slightly.

"I actually kind of like it." He said. Delusion smiled.

"I'm glad." He replied. "I worked so hard on these."

"It even has a hood that I can hide under." He put his hood up, and it did indeed make it impossible to see his face.

"This… is… Amazing!" Roman declared. I've always wanted to go on a real journey like this, and now I get to do it as a samurai!"

"I have no idea what I'm supposed to be, but this is way cool." Thomas agreed.

"I HAVE A PUPPY!"

"Yeah, sure. Your guys' is cool and very fitting for your personalities, but why am I dressed like this?" Logan demanded.

"Well, you're the practical and responsible one, and the five of you are going to be in a treacherous, unknown landscaped that is mostly uninhabited by humans and full of all sorts of dangerous stuff, so you're prepared for just about everything." Delusion explained.

"Never mind, this is adequate." He gave a half smile.

"Also, there's a surprise or two in your food rations… just don't look yet." Delusion said. "Alright, time to introduce you to yourselves. Roman, you are the young, chivalrous samurai from a small village that has agreed to come with these guys in order to protect Patton over here." Roman gave an excited whoop of appreciation for his backstory. "Patton, you're the kind hearted healer that can communicate with animals and have known Roman and Thomas for quite awhile. You're here to help save this small island that you are currently on."

"Yay." Patton clapped.

"Thomas, you're the guardian of this island. It's your job to insure that the magic keeping it alive doesn't fail, but the ancient relic that keeps the magic stable has been stolen from the temple atop the mountain by an evil witch. You called Patton for help."

"Oof."

"Logan, you are the calm, collected, logical scientist who was here studying the local wildlife and plant life when the relic was stolen, and you saw the a lot of animals and plants transform into creatures of nightmare before your very eyes, and you were rescued by Virgil." Logan gave an odd sort of nod.

"Last, but most definitely not least, we have Virgil, the mighty lord of shadows and storms." Virgil smirked, lowering his hood again. "Besides Thomas, you are the only person who lives on this Island. You live in the storm tower on Mt. Astrapi. You're a wizard that, once you level up enough, can control lightning and the darkness itself. You have dominion over all the creatures of the night, but you have suddenly lost control over many of them due to the relic being stolen. That's why you're part of this group."

"Sweet."

"Any questions?"

"I have one." Roman said. "Why was I locked in a tower if I'm Patton's protector."

"Oh, right. Duh. Sorry, this is a very admirable part of your story. The witch in that tower sent out a group of bat-people to steal Patton, because of his secret hidden power that I can't tell you about yet, and you pushed him out of the way and got taken instead."

"I am very okay with that." Roman announced.

"Speaking of the witch… that's your next task. Defeat her. Bye, bye boys… and good luck, Virgil." He and the dragon both disappeared.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Logan groaned.


	5. The Girl in the Doorway

Chapter Five

The Girl in the Doorway

The door to the tower swung open. Smoke spilled out of the door and a wicked cackle filled the air. Out of the smoke came, a beautiful young woman about their age in a tight, long black dress that turned loose around the knees. She was wearing dark makeup and was very pale. Her hair was black and nearly looked like a cape behind her, it was so long and smooth. Her eyes too, were deep and dark.

"Hold on… isn't that the girl who read us the weird poem?" Virgil asked.

"Yes. It is." Logan responded.

"She's our next task… so does that mean we have to defeat her?" Roman pulled out his sword and stepped into a fighting stance.

"Must be." Logan confirmed, freeing his bow and loading it.

"Hold, on…" Virgil began, but Logan shot off an arrow, and Roman took off running toward the witch with his blade held high above his head. Thomas freed his staff, and ran to join Roman in trying to fight the witch. She was casting spells of green at them, and stopping all of Logan's arrows.

"Come on, Virgil, you have to help them, my character can't fight." Patton begged. Virgil bit his lip and looked at the different pouches he had on his belt. Selecting one, he took a pinch of the powder inside, and blew it over the field in front of him, making everything go dark.

"Everyone stop." He commanded. After a moment, the darkness cleared. Virgil was standing in front of the witch with his arms outstretched, like he was guarding her.

"Virgil, what are you doing?" Roman demanded.

"Delusion said that she was the next task, not that we had to defeat her. If she hadn't been dressed like this, you wouldn't have just assumed that." He responded.

"What do you mean, if she's the next task, that means we have to defeat her." Logan said.

"You know something?" Patton said, stepping forward. "I think he's right. Think about it, if it had been a tiny little girl, dressed in pink, holding a rabbit we would've assumed that the task was to help her and not to fight her."

"I know what it feels like to have everyone think that you're the bad guy because you dress darkly. I don't think it's fair to do that to her… just, give her a chance… okay?" Virgil requested.

"Virgil, you make a good point, but he said that she was our task. I can't see anything else he could've meant." Roman said.

"What if the task is to help her?" Patton offered.

"She may not necessarily be the evil witch." Virgil added. "I don't know, I just have the sinking feeling that we're going about this all wrong."

"Well, you are the embodiment of anxiety, it's your primary function to feel like you're doing something wrong all the time so we double check ourselves to make sure that we aren't doing something wrong." Logan said.

"Well, if you think that's all I'm good for why do you bother listening to me at all?" Virgil snapped.

"That's not what I meant." Logan said immediately.

"Maybe he's right." Thomas said fairly. "This seems like something that the embodiment of delusion and confusion would put together."

"She isn't attacking us either." Patton pointed out.

"That's true, I suppose." Logan conceded.

"You might just be right about this." Roman agreed.

"Hello. I am Patton, a healer from a distant land." Patton said to the girl. "Who are you?"

"Nithara Amarite." She responded. She sounded just like the girl who had come to their door with the poem. "I used to own this tower, but all of my power was stolen by my step sister."

"No." Roman gasped dramatically.

"Were you a dark magician?" Virgil asked.

"I was indeed, why do you ask." She answered.

"I may be able to help you." He replied.

"What makes you think that?" She asked a bit skeptically. Roman made a little sound that can only be described as an insulted princy noise.

"Obviously, you don't know who he is." He said indignantly.

"I doubt she's heard of him." Logan adjusted his glasses.

"She might have." Patton argued.

"Even is she doesn't know who he is, he can still help her." Thomas pointed out. Roman rolled his eyes and made a sweeping motion with his hand as if to brush the comments aside.

"This is the mighty storm lord Virgil." He declared theatrically. "He controls all the magic on this Island."

"Lord Virgil?" She gasped, sweeping into a bow. "Forgive me, please. I knew not your face beforehand."

"Uh… yeah, that's fine." Virgil replied.

"I'd be honored for your help, my lord." She said.

"Unfortunately, it seems his powers were affected by the artifact being stolen." Logan pointed out.

"But he's currently on a mission to get them back." Roman interjected quickly.

"If you come with us, we might pass the tests and get our powers back sooner." Patton offered.

"You would give that chance, my lord?" She asked, beseechingly to Virgil.

"I guess so." He shrugged.

"So you're coming with us?" Thomas asked. Nithara blinked, as if she had just noticed him.

"I mean no disrespect, but what kind of warrior are you? I see you are accompanied by an archer, a healer, a swordsman, and a mage, but I don't understand exactly what you're supposed to be.

"Oh, uh, well… I'm Thomas, the island guardian." Thomas answered. Her eyes grew even wider.

"To think I would meet the both of you in one day. The mighty Lord of Storms and the fabled guardian of magic… but that must mean the island is in much danger, doesn't it. According to legend, the last time you were awakened, it was because a terrible storm had struck the relic, creating monsters and evil creatures, before Lord Virgil was ever here."

"Yes, the island is indeed on the verge of eternal peril, but we aim to stop that, and, strategically speaking, any more people would be useful, especially since you seem to have a fairly strong mind."

"I would love to be of help." She said. "Unfortunately, there isn't much of anything I can do. If you ever need help, however, I will be awaiting your instructions, my lord." She bowed once again to Virgil.

"Uh, thanks." He shifted uncomfortably.

"We should be going." Logan pointed out. "We need to find the next task." She nodded and returned to her tower.

"How do we know that we passes the test though?" Paton asked.

"When Delusion shows up again I suppose." Roman replied.

"Speak of the devil." Virgil said. True to his word, there stood Delusion.

"Bravo, boys. I knew you'd be the one to figure it out Virgil." He said. "The other ones just don't think like you. They act on instinct without rethinking, that's one thing that makes you so important. Since you were the one to figure out what the task was and you were the first to befriend her, I'll give you a patch. He did just as he said he would. "You've gained a new ability, Virgil. You have a strange looking flute on your belt now too, I'd take a look at that if I were you. Your second task will be harder… I mean of course it will, this is a game after all. Each level is harder than the last, so you boys better level up quickly. A lot of these levels will definitely involve fighting."

"What is the next task though?" Roman asked.

"Find the waterfall that rings like bells, that disappears into hundred mile wells. Waters green and waters blue, do not enter you know not what they do, for plant and toy left there alone, the waters will turn them to stone." And with that he disappeared, leaving behind only a call of good luck.


	6. New Point of View: Virgil Takes Charge

Chapter Six

New Point of View: Virgil Takes Charge

"What's that supposed to mean?" Virgil demanded.

"Logan do you have a map on you?" Roman asked.

"I should, let me look." He took his pack off his back and started rifling through it. "Ah, here we go. There's a waterfall not too far from here, marked with a bell and skull."

"That's got to be it, good thinking, kiddos." Patton smiled.

"Why is it marked with a skull?" Thomas asked.

"Think about the rhyme, it might tell us what's going on."Logan supplied.

"I've got it! Marshmallow!" Patton cried.

"What?" Everyone asked in unison.

"That's what I'm calling my doggie." He said matter of factly. "Marshmallow." The dog barked and wagged his tail.

"Aww, cute Patton." Thomas said.

"Come on now, focus." Logan reprimanded.

"Getting this question right could mean the difference between life and death." Virgil pointed out.

"Oh my Medusa!" Roman gasped. "The last part of the riddle. What was it, I think I'm remembering it wrong."

"For plant and toy left there alone, the water will turn it to stone." Logan recited back.

"That's what I thought it said." Roman nodded. "The reason it's marked with a skull is because people died there. They didn't know the water was dangerous, and they probably drank some."

"I don't think so… I would never drink from a river that had blue and green waters, and if plants turn to stone when left there too long, don't you think they'd see it?" Virgil shifted nervously, but his face remained nearly impassive, if anything, slightly annoyed. "Maybe something lives there that's super dangerous."

"It could be about the thousand foot wells." Patton offered.

"Yeah, anyone who falls into one of those isn't getting out again." Thomas agreed.

"It could be a combination of all of those things. This seems to be jungle terrain, so a lot of predators and poisonous or venomous animals and plants probably live there. The other two are self explanatory." Logan rationalized.

"Well, that's settled." Roman declared. "Onward!"

"So we're just going to blindly waltz over there, without knowing what's so dangerous about there? We're going to die." Virgil's hands jumped up to his hair in a clear nervous tick. "I don't think so. And who made you the leader?"

"What? Do you think you would make a better leader than I?" Roman asked conceitedly.

"Thomas should be the leader." Virgil said smoothly. "He's the leader in real life."

"Or, I should be the leader because I'm creative, and I'm by far the bravest, not to mention my dashing good looks. I'm hero material." Roman smirked and flipped his hair out of his face.

"Or, I should be the leader. I'm the smartest and the most responsible. The ideal leader is intelligent enough to for see dangers, tasks, and needs, and be responsible enough to keep track of his team mates, and be prepared for previously mentioned obstacles and difficulties." Logan adjusted his glasses.

"I still think Thomas should be the leader." Virgil sighed.

"I should be leader." Logan said.

"I'M THE HERO!" Roman screeched.

"Now, hold on there a minute kiddos. I think you're over looking the person who's best cut out for being leader." Patton said gently.

"Patton… you want to be the leader?" Virgil asked slowly.

"No, of course not. I don't like being in charge." He said. "Silly goose. I think you're the best fit." He grinned.

"Hold on, what?" Roman gasped.

"Going off of what Logan said, which seems like it's true, Virgil's the best choice." Thomas agreed.

"Your suggesting that we should all listen to the embodiment of angst and worry?" Logan asked.

"Well, hey now. Don't be like that. Virgil is a lot more than that." Patton said. His dog barked in what seemed to be agreement. "Logan said that the most important part of being a leader is being able to tell when you and your people will run into trouble and knowing how to avoid or be prepared for that danger when that time comes, and that's one of the thing's Virgil's best at."

"He's right." Thomas agreed. "Virgil's the best when it comes to planning ahead. He always has a fall-back plan."

"You might be right." Logan said thoughtfully. "Virgil always triple-checks everything and always errs on the side of caution. I definitely couldn't for see Virgil leading us to harm."

"No!" Roman whined. "That's not fair! I want to be the hero! Virgil doesn't even want to be the leader…" He whipped his head around and glared at Virgil, "... do you, Virge?" Virgil's face krept back into it's old sneer. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Whatever, it's not like I care." He huffed.

"See? Virgil doesn't care. That'll make him a bad leader." Roman pointed out.

"Aww, he doesn't mean that." Patton waved the idea down. "You've just gotta learn Virgil's language. He doesn't want to be leader, because he doesn't want to hurt your feelings."

"Psh, that's not true." Virgil's face and tone easily gave away his lie.

"Virgil, is that true?" Roman asked.

"No." But once again, Virgil's lie fell far short of convincing.

"Virgil, I never knew you cared." Roman gushed.

"Because I don't." Virgil once again attempted to deny it.

"Aww, don't be like that kiddo. We know you love us." Patton beamed. Virgil pouted and flipped the bangs out of his face.

"Aww" Thomas sighed.

"As touching as this moment is, we have a decision to make." Logan pointed out, irritably. "Who's going to be the leader, because someone has to be."

"I thought we already decided it was Princy." Virgil nodded his head at Roman.

"Well I, for one, think Virgil should be the leader." Roman said.

"WHAT?" Everyone asked, exasperatedly.

"Yes. I changed my mind when I realized how noble and selfless Virgil can be." He replied dramatically.

"Ugh, give me a break." Virgil murmured.

"No, really." Roman pressed on. "It's true. Even though you wanted to lead, you were going to allow someone else to, to spare their feelings. That, Virgil is chivalry, and that's something I can get behind."

"It's literally just a position, you know whoever's leader is going to have to be hearing everyone out anyway." Virgil shrugged.

"See, there you go again. Just a position, I tell you. I never realized you had this side of you. It was just kind of buried under all that negativity and sarcasm." He said with a grin.

"So, does that mean everyone's on board with Virgil being leader?" Thomas asked cheerfully.

"Yup!" Patton beamed.

"He should do well." Logan affirmed.

"Abso-stinken-lutely." Roman replied energetically.

"Alright, Virgil, what's our next move?" Thomas asked.

"I still think it's important to figure out more or less why the waterfall is marked like that." He replied.

"Your character is the guardian of the island, Thomas. Do you know?" Logan asked. Thomas shook his head.

"Let's take a look at the map again, kiddos." Patton suggested.

"Good idea." Virgil agreed. Logan rolled the map out again.

"Look, there's a key at the bottom of the map." Roman pointed out.

"What does the elephant mean?" Patton asked.

"That's not important right now." Logan waved his hand away.

"What does it mean though?" Patton pressed.

"Patton, that literally has nothing to do with what we're talking about right now." Thomas said.

"So I guess you could say my question is irrelephant." Patton quipped with a huge smile.

"Was that completely necessary?" Logan asked.

"I mean, I could've used a joke about construction, but I'm still building up to it." Patton laughed. Logan aggressively opened his bag, while staring intently at Patton. The velcro made a very loud sound, that caused everyone to look at him.

"You know, I would never buy a bag with velcro, it's a total rip-off." Patton laughed.

"Dang, Patton you're on fire." Thomas claimed cheerily, over Virgil's stifled laughter, and Roman and Logan's groan.

"Ohp, someone better put me out then." Patton grinned.

"Stop." Logan commanded. "Stop. Just, Patton, stop."

"Aw, okay." Patton sounded a little defeated. Marshmallow the dog sat down, his ears drooping, but his tail continued to wag, however slowly.

"Okay, so the key shows the skull as a dangerous location, no surprise there." Thomas said, looking the map over.

"The tiger face means inhabited by dangerous predators." Roman read.

"So, the waterfall isn't full of predators, or it would be marked with a tiger face." Virgil pointed out. Logan extracted a notebook from his pocket and started scribbling something down.

"Always take notes." He said, very seriously. "A professional writes everything down, a novice assumes he will remember."

"You're not wrong." Virgil nodded.

"That cute little frog guy stands for poisonous plants or waters." Patton pointed out. "Why does the frog stand for poison?"

"That's a golden dart frog, Patton." Logan replied. "They're one of the most poisonous animals on earth."

"Wait, they're here. Like on this Island?" Virgil asked, his eyes widening slightly, a disgusted look creeping onto his face.

"Hold on." Logan pulled a second notebook out of his pocket. "Hopefully my character was wise enough to jot down his findings about the- ah, yes. Here we are. There are several dozen different amphibians on this island. Sixty percent of them can commonly be lethal to unprepared travelers." Logan read. "The golden dart frog is indeed on the list."

"Okay, new rule. If you see any animal or plant that's brightly colored, fuzzy, and overly pretty or cute, and you want to touch it, don't. Don't go anywhere near it, if it's near you back away slowly, and for the love of everything sane, don't attempt to eat it." Virgil said. "I'm looking at you two." He gestured to Roman and Patton.

"What about Marshmallow?" Patton asked immediately.

"The dog's fine." Virgil sighed exasperatedly.

"What about you?" Patton asked.

"What?" Virgil asked.

"You said anything overly pretty or cute." Patton justified.

"The same rules apply to people on this island as they do everywhere else, Patton." Logan replied.

"So don't talk to strangers, and not everyone likes random surprise hugs." Roman said.

"Okay." Patton nodded.

"Virgil, what if there was someone in need of help, and they were surrounded by animals and plants like that?" Roman asked.

"Why are you asking me, we all know you're going to run to help him or her anyway." Virgil said.

"You're right, but you are the leader so I decided to ask in advance anyway." Roman claimed.

"I'm surprised you're actually okay with him being in charge. It's great to have you working together, don't get me wrong, but it's surprising." Thomas said.

"Well, Thomas, upon closer inspection of Virgil, and after you and Patton pointing out some of his finer qualities, I decided that I was wrong to have thought of Virgil as a creepy raisin-oatmeal cookie."

"Oh, here we go with the creepy cookie again." Virgil muttered.

"You've made me realize that all this time, Virgil has been a silent, misunderstood protector. A selfless, noble soul with all the makings to be great, but weighed down by his worries. He hasn't been some enemy to happiness, he's been a tool and a way to help us achieve happiness safely, and I am willing to step aside to allow someone like that to be the hero, even if it means I don't get my chance to shine today."

"Wow, Roman." Virgil said quietly.

"Aw, Roman, I'm so proud of you!" Patton squealed.

"It takes a big man to admit when he was wrong." Logan agreed.

"I'm glad to see you've grown that much, Roman." Thomas nodded.

"Also, the hero never starts out on top. The underappreciated dreamer always ends up being the hero." Roman declared.

"There it is." Virgil smirked.


	7. Dancing Dragons

Chapter Seven

Dancing Dragons

"So we know that the waterfall doesn't have a problem with predators or poison." Logan redirected everyone's attention to the map. "We also know that there are no known criminal issues in the area, because it isn't marked with two crossed swords."

"So Virgil, what could go wrong in a place like that?" Thomas asked.

"A lot of things." Virgil replied darkly. "You could fall into the water and be swept away, you could slip on the rocks and knock yourself unconscious, you could be struck by lightning, a tree could fall on you, a boulder could fall on you, you could fall through one of those 'wells' the rhyme talked about and never be seen again, there could be leeches or piranhas, even if they aren't marked because if food runs out, piranhas just move, and leeches aren't usually considered predators, and they aren't poisonous unless you try to use bug spray or a match to get them off and they throw up in your wound, you could get gangrene or necrotizing fasciitis because there is not a lot of access to medical help on this island, I'm guessing, you could contract rabies from otherwise harmless animals, there could be plants that we're allergic to there that aren't necessarily harmful to most people, we could be attacked by mosquitos, they're everywhere and carry a whole bunch of diseases, we could be attacked by army ants or other swarming bugs that don't necessarily always stay in the same area, we could die of hypothermia, we could die of thirst, because that water is not safe to drink, if we get the water in our mouth, nose, eyes, or ears it's almost certain to give us some sort of disease or do something bad to us, because it turns things TO STONE! WHY ARE WE EVEN STILL THINKING ABOUT GOING THERE?"

"Woah, okay. Calm down Virge." Patton put a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be just fine."

"Okay, maybe asking that question wasn't a good idea." Thomas admitted.

"You didn't foresee that?" Logan asked. "I just assumed you were disregarding Virgil's comfortability in exchange for needed information."

"Why would I do that?" Thomas asked incredulously.

"I would have done it." Logan replied.

"Which is why Virgil makes a better leader than you." Roman added. "You have nothing to fear, Virgil. With Thomas and I here to fend off attacks, Patton to help heal injuries, and Logan to advise us on… wise courses of action, there is no way any of those things can happen. Besides, we have you to guide us through these obstacles, and your primary function is keeping Thomas safe as it is and you do your job well, my friend."

"I don't want to be the leader anymore." Virgil's posture dropped and something like a scowl appeared on his face.

"What, why?" Roman asked.

"Patton, translation?" Logan inquired.

"What do you mean?" Patton asked.

"You seem to be the only one who can 'speak Virgil's language', so I'm asking you what Virgil actually means." Logan clarified.

"I mean exactly what I said." Virgil huffed.

"I think he's trying to tell us that we're putting too much pressure on him." Patton replied.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Virgil." Thomas said brightly. "Remember, we chose to have you step up and take the lead because you're naturally good at staying safe."

"That is so true." Logan agreed. "Even Roman recognizes that you're perfectly cut out for the part, and in real life the most vigilant people are the best suited to be leaders. You are definitely a vigilant person, and you seldom act purely upon impulses."

"Right." Virgil mumbled.

"It's okay, kiddo. You're doing great. Under anyone else, we'd probably be at the waterfall already." Patton said bracingly.

"So, you're saying we'd be making better time?" Virgil asked.

"No." Patton squeaked. "That's not what I meant."

"It's fine, I get what you were trying to say." Virgil gave his signature half smile. "But time is important, who knows what's happening to Thomas while we're here? The dark sides may have taken over. So, having pointed out potential ways of death, disease, and injury, what do think we're heading towards, Logan?"

"Possibly the dangers are just that of the average waterfall." Logan offered. "Or of those coupled with high concentrations of bacteria or chemicals that causes the petrification of objects."

"Can you think of anything else?" Virgil asked.

"Not at the moment." Logan responded. Virgil nodded.

"That being said, we should proceed with caution-" Virgil was cut off by Roman, who shouted;

"And charge into unknown danger to save a group of strangers that mean absolutely nothing to us and only exist in a game set up by my evil counterpart!"

"No." Logan and Virgil said at the same time.

"We're doing what Virgil said, Roman. We're going to be sensible and careful." Thomas said.

"Absolutely." Patton agreed. "We're going to save a group of strangers that only exist in a game set up by your evil counterpart in a sane, orderly manor."

"Right, right. Virgil, what's our next move?" Roman inquired. "Are we going to take a shortcut through the forest and brave animals and treacherous landscapes?" He drew his katana. "Are we, perhaps, going to courageously scale a cliff to get a better look at our path?"

"Or, we could go out on a limb and sacrifice some time and follow the clearly marked trail indicated on this map that starts at about a quarter of a mile from this spot, and make it to our next task safely." Virgil suggested sarcastically.

"Oh, fine. You're no fun." Roman pouted.

"Before we go, we should get an inventory check of everyone's stuff." Virgil said. "Take out any weapons or items, figure out the uses for them. We'll have Logan catalogue them so we know exactly what we have and how much of it." Thomas looked himself over.

"I literally only have this weird staff thing and my armor."

"I'll still jot it down." Logan said. "You never know what could change. However, I assume Virgil and Patton are going to be the only ones that really need an inventory check, but I haven't really looked in my bags yet." After several minutes of Logan cataloging everyone's objects, he had a list of medicines and different types of bandages for Patton as well as cantines of water and small packages of dried fruits and dog food. For Virgil, he had taken note of dozens of powders of various uses, multiple elixirs, poisons, their antidotes, and a blow dart set, as well as his flute which was shaped oddly like the single, long, clawed finger from a dragon or a giant bird. Roman had complained fluently that the only tool he was given was a katana until Logan wearily pointed out that having only one weapon meant he had to be more skilled and brave to operate at the same level as the others. Logan's bags contained many different items including, but not limited to, arrow pieces, replacement bow strings, disinfectants like rubbing alcohol, non-toxic disinfectants he claimed were useful for making dirty water drinkable, flint and steel, lighters, several different survival guides, water bottles, and another bag labeled food rations. He opened the food rations bag to find small packages of crackers, peanut butter, and jars of Logan's berry Crofters Jam, which resulted in him hyperventilating and requiring both Virgil and Patton to calm him down.

"Okay, Virgil." Logan gasped after calming himself down. "Let's see what that flute does."

"Do you even know how to play the flute?" Roman asked.

"Yes." Virgil nodded confidently. "I also play violin, cello, harp, koto, piano, and bass, electric, and acoustic guitar."

"Wow, I never knew that." Patton said.

"Yeah, well, there's a lot you don't know about me, Popstar." He lifted the flute up towards his lips and began playing with a long, low note. A small, purple light sprung froth from the end of the instrument and began to trace shapes in the air. Virgil's eyes lit up in understanding. He began to play a smooth, dark melody. The light traced a picture in the air of a small, snake-like dragon. He ended the short tune with a high, crisp note that quivered as it was held. The picture of the dragon began to shimmer and solidify. It stretched its wings and let out a small, but somehow still mighty, roar.

"Woah," Thomas gasped. "It's like that dream I had a couple nights ago where I had a magic kazoo that could make cute animals if I played the right song, but like cooler."

"I must say, Virgil, I'm very impressed. Learning to play an instrument is very difficult, and then you had the courage to play in front of us." Logan commented.

"Yes, Logan, it was very admirable and all that, but you're missing the point here." Roman said. "Virgil has a flipping DRAGON!"

"Awe, He's so cute." Patton cooed. "What song was that, Virgil?"

"Eh, just a little something I wrote a couple months ago." He shrugged.

"Wow, you wrote that?" Roman asked, his eyes shining in awe.

"What's it called, Virgil?" Thomas asked.

"Dragon Tamer." He responded.

"While this is admirable and impressive, and I stress that it is, we probably should get moving. The sun is going to set in about two hours, and most of the predators on this island are nocturnal."

"Right, hold on." Virgil nodded. He brought the flute up to his lips and began playing a different tune. This one was far less creepy and dramatic. A purple string of light leapt from his flute and began zooming away, leaving a clear line behind it. "Path Maker." Virgil offered in explanation. "Instead of wandering around for five minutes in the general area of the trail trying to find it, we've got a precise lead directly to it."

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Logan asked skeptically.

"Mostly." Virgil admitted. "We'll double check using the map on the way there and when we arrive."

"Sounds sane." Logan agreed.

"Cool, so, uh… let's go." Virgil said awkwardly as he walked off after the light. His little dragon took a perch on his shoulder.

"Oh, this is so cool!" Roman declared, excitedly. "I can't believe we're really going on a magical adventure in real life!"

"Technically we're not." Logan pointed out. "This is all happening in Thomas's mind."

"It sure feels real." Thomas commented joyously, looking up at the sky.

"Ooh, a fairy!" Patton gasped, pointing out a small, winged creature. She did a pirouette, then flew away.

"Are we headed in the right direction at least?" Virgil looked over his shoulder at Logan.

"Yes." He didn't even glance down at it. Virgil nodded and they continued after the purple beam, which disappeared as Virgil passed.

"I kind of wish the light didn't disappear afterwards in case we got lost… but I guess it's better than being able to be followed so easily." Virgil mumbled to himself, looking off in the distance behind him.

"If we get lost, can't you just play another little tune?" Roman asked.

"If we get lost, it'll be because my spell doesn't work." Virgil pointed out.

"I'm sure it'll work perfectly, kiddo." Patton reassured him.

"Right." Virgil mumbled walked for quite a while, Logan checking the map periodically, until the sun began to set. "Looks like we're going to have to set up camp." Virgil said. "Anything in that book about shelters?" He asked Logan.

"I am very aware of how to build a jungle shelter." He said indignantly. "I won't necessarily be able to do all the heavy lifting though."

"Roman, Thomas, and Logan, you three stay here to build the shelter. While I'm gone, Logan's in charge. Listen to him, I'm looking at you Roman" Roman huffed. "You and Thomas are staying behind to help with lifting and breaking whatever he needs you to lift and break. Patton and I are going to go collect small fallen branches and bits of dry underbrush for a fire. When we come back we're going to set up a fire pit and help you guys with whatever is left to be done if anything."

"Woo!" Patton called. "Bonding time!" Virgil rolled his eyes, but gave a small smile.


	8. Anxiety Attack

Chapter Eight

Anxiety Attack

Virgil pocketed his flute, and glanced nervously over his shoulder again as they started down the trail. "Okay, Patton, here are the rules. Don't leave my side at any time unless I tell you to. If you end up separated from me, but know the way back to camp still, go directly back there and don't look back, I have my flute, I'll find you again."

"O-okay." Patton said uneasily.

"If we get attacked by anything or anything happens to me, go straight back to camp. We'll mark the trail so you can find your way back quickly." Virgil added.

"I can't do that." Patton protested. "If something happens to you, I have to take care of you. I have all the medical supplize." Marshmallow barked in agreement.

"Exactly." Virgil pointed out. "What's worse, me getting hurt and maybe dying or all of us dying?" Patton swallowed.

"That's not a fair question." Patton said.

"That's the decision I have to make, Patton, and I value you, Logan, Roman, and Thomas far over my own life. Besides, this is a game that's taking place inside Thomas's head, so it's likely that I can't actually get hurt in here anyway, but I don't want to take that risk with you guys. I can't afford t- I mean, Thomas can't afford to lose you." Virgil had turned around and put both his hands on Patton's shoulders, looking him in the eyes. Patton's eyes were swimming with tears.

"Aw, Virge!" He wrapped Virgil in a tight embrace Which Virgil awkwardly and lightly returned.

"Come on, Pat let's g-" But before he could finish his sentence the ground beneath him opened up, and he fell through. He wasn't falling through a hole or cave, it was an empty black void. He reached up instinctively, grasping at anything to grab ahold of, his mouth open in a scream that would not leave his throat. Patton had made a grab for him, but it was too late, he was already too far away. Patton had tears streaming down his face, it looked like he was yelling something, but no sound was reaching Virgil's ears. Everything was slowing down, he felt more like he was floating than falling now. He tried to tell Patton that it was going to be okay, that he didn't have to cry, but he couldn't make a sound, he couldn't move either. All he could do was wait and hope there was a bottom to the void he'd fallen into, though something was telling him that there wouldn't be. Patton disappeared from view, and Virgil hoped he'd gone back to camp like he told him to. Better one than both.

Patton watched helplessly as Virgil fell. He'd tried to catch him, but he wasn't fast enough.

"Virgil!" He didn't realized he'd opened his mouth until he heard himself screaming. For a crazy second, it looked like Virgil had stopped falling, but he was slowly disappearing into darkness. Patton could've sworn Virgil gave him a reassuring smile before the darkness completely covered him. Patton ran straight back to camp like Virgil had told him to. He was sure Logan would know what to do. He always did. He could feel tears flying off of his cheeks as he ran. He broke into the clearing where Roman was leaning a large log against a tree. He, Thomas and Logan all looked concerned when they noticed him. He launched himself into Roman arms and tried to tell them what happened.

"It's all my fault!" He cried. "He's gone and it's all my fault!"

"Slow down, Patton. What happened?" Roman attempted to sooth him, holding him tightly. True, it was Patton who usually cheered everyone up, but Roman felt obligated to try. "I was t-talking to V-virgil and he f-fell through th-this hole and he's g-gone!" He sobbed into Roman's shoulder.

"Patton, it's okay." Thomas said gently, putting his hand on Patton's shoulder. "There's nothing you could've done, it's not your fault."

"He's right Patton." Roman agreed. "Virgil wouldn't like that you're blaming yourself for this." Patton sniffed, but hugged him tighter.

"Besides, Patton, there's a good chance that Virgil's fine. Bring us to where he fell, we'll see what we can do, and even if he is gone right now, after we beat Delusion's game, he'll come back. You have to remember that none of this is real." Patton nodded and wiped the tears away from his eyes.

"It happened over this way." He said, leading them toward the trail.

Virgil could feel a distinctly familiar aura around him. A feeling of cold dread shocked his bones and froze his blood for a moment, before it slowly died to a prickle of eeriness that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He felt himself gently touch the ground, and he knew where he was before the lights even turned on. He got to his feet as his eyes adjusted and he drew himself up to his full height, arranging his face into a withering glare and a cold sneer. He was back in the dark domain, and he didn't like it one bit.


	9. Caesar and Cupid

Chapter Nine

Caesar and Cupid

AN: Okay, guys I have to ask you a huge, huge favor. I'm a super big fan of Thomas(If you couldn't tell) and I would die to have him see this fanfiction. I've been putting my heart and soul into this for all of you reading it and for Thomas. I'm begging you to help me make my dream come true, and mention my fiction to Thomas.

-Queen of the Scorpions

P.S: I'm not too sure about this chapter. If you guy wasn't a rewrite, comment below and tell me. Love from,

baNe (That's my name, don't wear it out)

Virgil looked around, keeping an imposing look upon his face. When he had been a dark side, he was well respected by them and, contrary to anything Lucius might say, Virgil had not forgotten anything about life in the dark domain. He knew all the unspoken rules. Always either slouch or strut. Either be ready to fight, or act like you already won the battle. Keep your hands in your pockets of folded in front of you. Don't look anyone in the eye unless you're staring them down. If you start a staring match, you had better win. He still, somewhat subconsciously, abided by those rules as a light side. He was always ready to be tossed back into the dark domain, living in the light just seemed too good to be true. So when Chaos made eye contact with him, everyone was reminded of why they'd been trying to draw Virgil back into the shadows. His death glare could drop just about anyone, and Chaos was no exception. He looked down at his feet.

"Virgil!" Virgil turned his glare on the voice that had called his name.

"Caesar." Virgil growled. Delusion gasped.

"Aw, Virgil, you do remember me. I was worried that you'd forgotten." He said.

"I wish I had." Virgil snarled. Caesar looked deeply hurt.

"You don't mean that." He whimpered, sounding even more hurt than he looked. Usually, if a dark side were to show that kind of emotion, they'd be done for, but Caesar was an exception to that rule. All Thomas's dark sides had a special power, besides Caesar and Lucius, they had several. Caesar had a few quite frightening abilities, so it didn't matter how weak he seemed, the other dark sides left him alone. Virgil knew he was playing with fire, taunting Caesar like that, but there wasn't much he could do and keep his reputation at the moment other than that, and his reputation meant the difference between being a main function and being squashed into the past and disappearing forever when it came to the dark sides. Caesar closed the distance between them and grabbed Virgil by the shoulder. Virgil knew what was coming, so it came as no surprise when he found that he could no longer move. Caesar turned Virgil around and had him face a computer screen. On the screen was a what Virgil thought for a second was the picture of a forest cliff. Then, Patton, Roman, Logan, and Thomas walked into view in their costumes, looking over the ledge.

"That's where he fell in." Patton's voice shook when he spoke.

"That sure is a long way down." Roman commented sadly.

"There's still a chance that he's okay, right Logan?" Thomas asked him.

"Yes." Logan replied. "This is all a delusion after all, it's a dream. It's likely that after we win the game we'll wake up just like we would if we were just sleeping." The computer switched off. Panic rose up in Virgil's chest before he forcibly beat it down.

"You saw that, didn't you, Virgil?" Caesar whispered. "I have your perfect little family in the clutch of my hands. I could just send them all into the abyss I just saved you from, but you don't want that now do you?" He tapped Virgil's shoulder again.

"You wouldn't!" He gasped, sounding much more brave than he felt, and he jumped back away from Caesar, hunching down on all fours, ready to spring into an attack if necessary. Physical battles were often fought in the dark domain to decide superiority. It was almost like the mechanics of a wolf pack. The alpha was respected, feared, and obeyed until someone decided to challenge him or her. If the challenger was successful, he or she took over as alpha. Virgil had gotten into a fair few fights as a dark side, and he'd only ever lost to one person. That person, was Lucius. Caesar seemed to be aware of this, for he looked a bit wary of getting in a fight with Virgil. He raised an elegantly sculpted eyebrow at him.

"Virgil, don't make me hurt you." He threatened in a gentle voice. "I don't want to. You always have been my favorite."

"I don't want to be your favorite." Virgil said crossly. "You're a lustful idiot, and you're literally delusional, I don't want anything to do with you."

"Chaos, Rebellion, leave for a minute." Caesar ordered. They did as they were told. "I see what the problem is Virgil." Caesar mumbled. "You don't want me because you're afraid I don't really love you. You're afraid I'll leave you." He took a step closer to Virgil.

"Dream on!" Virgil snarled. "I'm not afraid of losing you, because I don't want you! You're sick!"

"There's someone else then." Caesar's face darkened. "It's Roman isn't it?" Virgil felt his blood turn cold. His face grew hot and he seemed to choke on his words as he sputtered them out,

"I- wha, Roman? No. Why would- ew, no gross." But he knew he was lying to himself. He'd liked Roman since before he even left the dark sides, that was the main reason he agreed to join the light sides at first, and that it seemed a lot less chaotic over there.

"I could tell when you had thought Lucius turned him into me. Ugh! How dare he?" Caesar growled. "He has the most beautiful thing in the world chasing after him and he treats him so badly?" He turned back to Virgil, and stooped down, cupping his chin in his hands. "Come on, Virgil." Caesar purred. "You know he doesn't deserve you. He's been nothing but horrible to you ever since you risked your neck to be able to stand by his side. You don't want him. I have everything he has and more. I'm stronger and smarter. I'm darker than he is, we have more in common. I'm better for you." Virgil threw himself backward, and rolled along the ground to avoid injury. He sprang up to his feet in a combative stance ready to beat the crap out of Caesar if he tried anything. "Fine, Virgil, have it your way." He said sadly. "You'll be mine whether you like it or not. After a little while with me, I shall make thee think thy swan a crow."

"Butchering Shakespeare? Really?" Virgil sneered.

"Ah, well." He sighed. "All I know is in a week, you'll forget all about Roman. He might be a mighty empire, but Caesar ruled it."

"Who says I'm going to be here that long?" Virgil demanded.

"My cupid ability, Caesar responded smoothly." He glided over toward Virgil. Virgil fought not to betray the fear he felt in his expression.

"Cupid ability?" He repeated warily, as Caesar wrapped his arms around his waist. Virgil tried to push him away, but Caesar was stronger.

"I can cause anyone to become completely infatuated with me with just a little kiss." He explained softly, leaning in toward him.

"No!" Virgil shouted, he panicked and, as adrenaline flooded his veins, he relapsed into old instincts from teaching himself karate from several books. Two different kicks to the outside of each leg. A hit on the shoulder, and a strike to the gut. Caesar fell to the floor, holding his stomach, and Virgil made a run for it.

"Wait!" Caesar called desperately. "I still have them captive!" Virgil skidded to a stop, right in front of the door. How could he have forgotten something that important? He turned around as Caesar slowly stood up. "Come here, Virgil, or I'll drop them all into the abyss." Virgil's breath was coming in quick gasps as he did what he was told. His heart was pounding madly, and his feet didn't want to move. He looked Caesar in the eye when he wrapped his arms around his waist again, and attempted to drop him dead with his fiercest glare. "That only makes you more attractive." Caesar informed him.

"Go trip over a knife." Virgil spat bitterly. Caesar chuckled and leaned in to kiss Virgil. Virgil kept his lips pressed tightly together, hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't work. He squeezed his eyes shut in fear. Caesar's lips were surprisingly soft. And warm. All Virgil wanted to do now was let Ceasar kiss him properly. If he just relaxed a little bit, he would- 'NO!' Virgil thought firmly to himself. 'I can't let this work on me!' 'But this feels so right.' 'Of course it FEELS right. He's literally lust!' 'But he's so gentle.' 'NO!' 'Just one kiss' 'I can't' 'But I want to'

"Come now, Virgil." Caesar pulled away from him ever so slightly. "It's just one kiss." He purred. "It can't do any harm." All of a sudden, Virgil couldn't remember why he was struggling so hard against just one kiss. Besides, Caesar's voice was so intoxicating. And the way that he was holding Virgil felt so good. Virgil let out a sigh, leaning into Caesar's embrace. He tilted his chin up. One kiss couldn't hurt.

Virgil looked himself over in the mirror. It'd been a long time since he'd worn his paranoia outfit. He wasn't even sure if he liked it anymore. It was tight and kind of uncomfortable, he'd been a lot more comfortable with his body when he was a dark side, so his form-fitting clothing made him feel exposed now, even though it covered pretty much everything from the neck down. A from fitting, black shirt with long sleeves that had a screaming skull on it, black skinny jeans with rips up and down the legs, soft black felt shoes that made him nearly silent when he walked, black, fingerless gloves, his old headphones that somehow still worked that were black with the same insignia as his shirt. He kept his eyeshadow the same, he hoped Caesar wouldn't dislike it. There was a knock on his door. Virgil ran to it and threw it open. He hoped beyond all hope, it was who he thought it was. Virgil was starting to wonder how he even existed without him before.

"Caesar!" He cried breathlessly. He allowed Caesar to pull him into an embrace and tilted his chin up, waiting to be kissed. He grasped at Caesar's shirt when their lips met, but refused to let go after they parted. He didn't want him to leave him. Everytime Caesar let go of him, he felt like he was going to leave and never come back.

"Hello, Virgil." Caesar purred. "You look marvelous "I have a job for you."

"Yeah? Like what?" Virgil asked breathlessly.

"Well, first I need to ask, you still feel like the light sides are your family, right?" He asked, steering them over to sit on Virgil's bed. Virgil cuddled up to him like a small child and looked up at him with big, sad eyes.

"Yes." He whispered his answer as though he were afraid Caesar may have wanted another answer.

"And you'd do anything to protect your family, right?" He asked him. Virgil nodded, his face arranged in a small frown. "Perfect." Caesar smiled at him. "Here's what I need you to do for me, Virge." He kissed his nose as he spoke.

Virgil was cold, but he didn't want to put on his hoodie. Caesar had told him that he looked good, and Virgil didn't want to cover himself up because of it. That was probably the only reason he was interested in him, Virgil had decided. He didn't have anything else to offer. He wasn't smart. He wasn't romantic and brave. He wasn't funny and cuddly. So the only reason Caesar would be choosing him over any of the other sides, would be the way that Virgil looked. He sighed and shivered. Caesar could walk in at any moment, and he wanted to constantly be at his best for him. Sure enough, the door opened and Caesar walked in, Lucius right behind him.

"Virgil," Lucius drawled as Virgil sprang to his feet, then into a bow, "It's so nice to see you here with us dark sides again."

"Thank you for taking me back, my lord." Virgil mumbled. He'd never admit it out loud in the light realm, but he was terrified of Lucius. Did Virgil want to be a dark side? Heck no, but that was the only way he could be with Caesar. He still loved all the light sides, but he loved Caesar more, and besides, rejoining the dark sides would get Lucius off his back.

"Virgil, do you remember the game that I set up for the light sides?" He asked casually.

"Yes." Virgil kept his voice steady and toneless, even when speaking to his true love. He couldn't show weakness in front of Lucius.

"Well, they've been at it for a few weeks now." He continued.

"How? It's only been a couple hours since I dropped out of that hole." Virgil pointed out.

"It's the dream realm, baby." Caesar said stooping to kiss Virgil's nose. Secretly, Virgil loved the little nose kisses, and he was sure Caesar knew that, but in view of Lucius, he could not be seen doing something like that, so he tilted his face upward ever so slightly, and Caesar was surprised by a quick peck on the lips.

"Alright, so they've been playing for a few weeks." Virgil said. "What does that have to do with me?" Lucius smirked.

"Just what I like to hear from you Virgil." He clapped Virgil on the shoulder. "I'm so glad you left them behind so easily."

"We need you to be the prize for the final challenge." Caesar gently directed Virgil away from Lucius, looking at the lord of the dark sides warily. "They need to think that they'll be saving you from me as their last task. They'll have to make their way through mazes, obstacles, and enemies to get to you and 'save' you. Once they get to the room you're being held in, they win the game. I'll have you take it from there, all mighty Virgo. That's when you'll step in and crush their spirits. It should be easy to take over Thomas from there." Virgil swallowed subconsciously.

"Don't tell me you're still too attached to them to help." Lucius sneered. Virgil looked over to Caesar, whose eye were beseeching. Caesar was so handsome, somehow more so than the rest of the sides. Virgil was so lucky to have him, he couldn't bare to make him upset.

"Of course not." Virgil said coldly. "I'll do as the both of you instruct me without question or hesitation."

"Very good, Virgil." Lucius praised.

"Thank you." Caesar mumbled. "Thank you so much, Virgil" Virgil gave a small, half smile at him that made him blush. "It's so much cuter when it's directed at me." He sighed. Lucius gave a slight cough. Caesar smirked at Virgil, while he stepped back. "I need you to wait in here a little longer, okay?" He lifted Virgil's knuckles to his lips and kissed them softly. Virgil nodded silently.

"If this goes well, Virgil," Lucius began, "I will reinstate you as chief reign of fear. I'll even give you your shock ability back." With that, he left the room. Virgil allowed himself to relax. Caesar frowned, concerned.

"You're freezing." He commented.

"Not really." Virgil shrugged. That was a lie. Somewhere off in the distance, Deceit yelled Virgil's name. Caesar raised his eyebrow at him and Virgil flinched back. "I'm sorry I lied, please don't be mad at me." The words had left Virgil's mouth before he could even process that he was scared that that would happen. Caesar held him for a moment.

"It's fine." He chuckled. "Put on your hoodie or something. Don't freeze to death, okay?" He kissed Virgil's lips, then walked out the door. "They're on their way." He called back as he left. He turned around. "I know you still love them. I understand, but I know you'll do the right thing." He closed the door, and Virgil sat down. He put his hoodie on just like Caesar told him to and curled into himself, leaning against a wall. What did he want? He wanted everything to go back to the way it was before they started the game, with one exception. He wanted to be with his family. He wanted to continue doing videos with Thomas. He wanted to laugh at Patton's stupid jokes. He wanted Roman to tease him, so he could tease him back. He wanted to get in little friendly debates with Logan and lose horribly. He even wanted to gang up on Judeas with Roman and Logan and throw books and rocks at him. He wanted to help Remy escape from Logan in the halls of the mind palace, so Thomas could stay up all night reading internet memes and listening to Hamilton mix tapes. But he also wanted to be with Caesar. That couldn't realistically happen, though, so who did he want more? His family or Caesar? He took a deep, steadying breath and made his decision. He had nearly twenty minutes to think before the door was thrown open.

"Virgil!" Roman shouted, running toward him. He skidded to a stop when Virgil pierced him with his famous death glare. "Virgil, wha-" but he was cut off by Patton, who had just gotten to the door.

"Virgil! You're okay!" He too stopped in his tracks at the look on Virgil's face. Logan and Thomas came up behind him. "Are you okay?" Patton asked, his concerned dad voice coming through. Virgil crossed his arms and sneered at them.

"Virgil, come on." Logan said. "We won the game." Virgil curled his lip.

"Isn't that nice?" He asked sarcastically.

"Virge," Thomas began cautiously. Virgil could feel the beginnings of a panic attack beginning to stir in Thomas. "It's us. D-don't you remember?"

"Of course he remembers us." Roman said, his usual confidence wavering ever so slightly. "I mean, unless he- he chose to forget." He cast desperate eyes on Virgil.

"He wouldn't do that." Patton shook his head violently.

"Of course I know you." Virgil said. Thomas and Roman breathed a sigh of relief while Patton nodded.

"That's right, of course you do, kiddo." He said, reaching to grab his wrist. Virgil hit Patton's hand away firmly with an outward forearm block.

"Don't touch me." He hissed, his voice warping to a demonic sound as it often did when he was afraid or sprang up in Patton's eyes and everyone gasped. "You light sides think you're so high and mighty." He snarled. "But you're in my world now. You don't run the show down here in the dark domain."

"What?" Thomas gasped. Virgil stiffened.

"Well, I guess you kind of still do." Virgil corrected himself. "But it's not like you know how to stop us." He added quickly.

"Virgil! Don't be absurd!" Roman gasped, sounding as though he were on the verge of hysteria. "You," He chuckled slightly in manic way, "You're not a dark side. You're one of us."

"You hit Patton." Logan said blankly, his face dumbfounded. "You've always liked him best and you just hit him." Patton had tears running down his face.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch you." He whimpered. "I tried, really, I did."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Virgil spat. "I only know you because you're the light sides. I've never met you before." Patton began audibly sobbing into Logan's arms. Logan had a completely blank look on his face as though he couldn't process what had just happened.

"Wha- Virgil, no." Thomas said weekly. "We-we were too late." Roman burst out laughing.

"This- this is a joke, right?" He asked. "Yes, yes, ha ha Virgil, very funny. I can't believe you pulled a prank on us, that's so funny." Virgil raised an eyebrow and pulled his hoodie off up over his head. Roman gasped and stumbled backward. "You- you aren't- wha- I mean, you can't really be… Paranoia?" Roman asked weakly. Virgil smirked, lifting his arms.

"In the flesh." Logan fainted, and Patton nearly went down with him. Thomas had dropped whatever he'd been holding. Roman fell to his knees.

"CAESAR!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. The other door to the room swung open and Ceasar casually strolled in.

"I'm glad you recognize my handiwork after all this time, little brother." Caesar drawled. "Come here, baby." Virgil gave a little half smile and allowed Caesar to spin him around and give him a peck on the lips. Roman made a choking noise and paused halfway through the action of rising from the floor and drawing his sword. He keeled over and joined Logan on the floor, unconscious. "Dear, dear me Thomas." Caesar tutted.

"Looks like you're all alone… well, I guess you still have your morality, but… soon he'll be gone too." Virgil hissed. "They always leave, don't they? Everyone always leaves you."

"Yeah." Thomas agreed quietly, his voice breaking.

"W- no, wait that's not true." Patton argued weakly.

"Oh, but it is." Virgil growled, stepping closer to Thomas. He leaned in and whispered in Thomas's ear; "Nobody loves you." Patton was the last to fall, but he hadn't been completely bested yet. He was sobbing, but he was still conscious, still in play. Lucius strolled in from the dark hallway leading into the dark domain.

"Very good, Virgil." He praised. "This may be your finest work yet." Virgil smirked and bowed, somewhat ironically. "I believe this very much counts as a job well-done as anything could be. I believe you deserve this back." He extended his arm and opened his fist. There was a small, silver lightning bolt pin in his hand. Virgil took it in trembling fingers, and reached into his pocket for its pair. The other pin was a purple cloud. He looked up at Lucius, who nodded his permission, then he looked over at Ceasar.

"Come on." He urged excitedly. "They're yours, aren't they?" Virgil swallowed and pinned both of them to his shirt. They shimmered and dissolved away, and Virgil felt a rush of power surge through his body.

"I'm back, baby!" His voice was metallic and utterly inhuman. Even Caesar had to back away in shock. Virgil had suddenly grown much taller, and his eyes were glowing purple.

"Welcome back, Master of Fright." Lucius said politely. Virgil laughed.

"Nightmare before Christmas nicknames, I like it. You want me to take the light sides to the holding cell, My lord?"

"See that you do." He replied, and he left the room. Caesar gently took Virgil's arm before he could scoop up Patton, Roman, and Logan.

"Virgil," He breathed, "You're still beautiful to me." Virgil let a smirk play across his face, and hesitantly kissed Caesar's lips, who gladly kissed back, much harder. Virgil leaned in and whispered in his ear,

"I'll always think you're beautiful." He scooped up his former friends in his now even more muscular arms and stalked off toward the holding cell.


	10. Broken Mirrors

A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait, thank you for all of your support guys! I give you all da love. Should Roman challenge Caesar to a duel for Virgil's freedom? Comment Bellow!

Chapter Ten

Broken Mirrors

Virgil may have walked in the direction of the holding cell, but that's not where he was taking them. He called for Naturnor, or Nate as he much preferred to be called, and Judaes and set the unconscious light sides down gently on the floor. When Judaes (Deceit) and Nate (Rebellion) showed up, they both jumped back in fear. Judeas bowed and began sputtering like a madman,

"I'm not sorry for how horribly I treated you as a lightside, Lord Paranoia," Virgil held up his hand for silence.

"Save it for someone who enjoys hearing something like that." Virgil rolled his eyes. "Like the dark one." He spat bitterly. Nate and Judaes shared a look.

"So you, the mighty Virgo, want to join the rebellion against the dark one?" Nate asked.

"Kind of." Virgil replied.

"That's atrocious." Judaes said gleefully.

"What's the opposite of atrocious?" Nate asked.

"Delightful." Virgil replied.

"Oh, kay. That's what I thought it was… yeah, no, I had no clue." Nate grinned, stretching out his arms. "Oh, so I see you brought in the cavalry." He said, eyeing the light sides. "What happened to them?" He asked.

"I happened." Virgil grunted. "I had to knock them unconscious to get them out of there safely."

"You beat them up?" Judeas asked.

"Oh! Absolutely not! It was bad enough that I kind of hit Patton! I had to knock out Thomas's primary functions in order to get my powers back from the dark one."

"That's why you saved us, Virgil?" Virgil turned around. Patton was still awake! How could he have forgotten? A single tear trickled down Patton's cheek and his lip trembled. Any sort of mental barrier Virgil might have had in place collapsed at the sight of that.

"No! Patton, it isn't like that." Virgil said immediately. "You didn't hear the rest of it. Come on, Pat, you know I love you guys."

"I thought you did." Patton sniffed. He forced his face into a smile. "No, I'm being silly. Of course you love us, you only said that so you could save us." Virgil let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Patton popped up and squeezed Virgil in a tight hug, which he returned awkwardly.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey Virgil." Nate poked his shoulder.

"What?" He asked, sounding just as tired as he felt.

"I have your hoodie." Nate replied, and he shoved the hoodie at Virgil.

"Oh, my god, thank you." He put his hoodie back on and zipped it up. "Okay, I need you to do something for me, Nate. This is super dangerous and in no way allowed-"

"Cool, when do I start?" Nate asked.

"I need you to sneak into the dark one's throne room and bring back the box. I'd do it myself, but I need to be here to take care of Roman and Logan. They're my family and-"

"Dude!" Nate interrupted him. "Shut up. Just because I'm not a light side- look, I get it, okay? If it were Chaos and Judaes… I understand. I'll be back." And he took off. Patton was looking down at Logan.

"Logan, teach, come on kiddo, wake up." Patton was gently shaking him. Virgil knew exactly how to wake Roman up, but he didn't know if he could bring himself to do it. Purely to stall for time, he turned to Judaes.

"Do me a favor and round up any of the other dark sides that are ready to revolt." He said.

"But we haven't brought in all three of us yet." Deceit pointed out.

"No, I mean all of them, even the minor ones who don't have influences on Thomas's behavior anymore… What I mean is, I want you to go through the mirror. I understand if you want to wait until Nate gets back and have him go with you."

"Now wait a minute, kiddo. What do you mean by go through the mirror?" Patton asked.

"I have no idea what's happening to Thomas right now, so I don't have time for the full story, but there is a mirror somewhere in the dark domain that's a gateway into the land where Thomas's old dark sides that don't exist anymore live. We're going to need them for this. I have a plan."

"If there's one for the dark sides, shouldn't there be one for the light sides too?" Logan, it seemed, had finally awakened. He was rubbing the side of his head.

"There's supposed to be, but nobody knows-" Virgil was interrupted by Logan yelling,

"Wait a minute! You- you're trying to release old dark sides! It wasn't a dream! You did betray us!" Logan looked disgusted. Deceit stepped in between them.

"Yes he did." He disagreed. "He didn't just make it up to save you from the dark one."

"Logan, Virge already convinced me." Patton said.

"I bet all he said was I love you." Logan raised an eyebrow and Patton flushed. Logan sighed. "I'll go with Judaes to the mirror." He said. "I'm interested in seeing that place anyway."

"I'm going with you." Patton said. Both of them looked over to Virgil. He thought for a moment, looked over at Roman, then nodded.

"While you guys are gone, I'll wake up Roman and explain everything. Then, we'll go get Tom." Virgil said.

"Who's Tom?" Logan asked, seeming to be racking his brains for missing information.

"Chaos… he can't hear if you say his name in the dark domain unless your there with him, but he'll definitely want to raise hell with us… we're literally about to go to war with a being that's supposed to be unbeatable, he'll eat it up." Virgil explained. "Anyway, after we collect him, we'll come back. Depending on who gets here first, one of us will explain to Nate what we've done so far, and after that Roman and I will set off to find the light mirror… which is actually called the looking glass… anyway, we're going to try to bring back innocence and see if he can help us get rid of the dark one. When we return, I'll try to talk Roman's brother down. I kind of have a way with words in that sense. If we can get him on our side too, we'll be able to do anything… he's very powerful, trust me. Then there's the box. I don't have time to explain everything right now, but I already sent Nate after it." Logan looked skeptical but nodded.

"Alright, let's go." Patton said cheerfully. They turned and followed Deceit down the dark corridor. Virgil turned and looked down at Roman, nervousness clawing at his stomach. He did not want to do what he was about to do, but he had to. He had to wake Roman up. He swallowed down the feeling of guilt in his throat, hating that he was doing this to Caesar, or even Roman for that matter. He knelt down beside him and slowly pressed his lips firmly to Roman's. Roman hummed into Virgil's lips, and Virgil felt a hand at on the back of his head. Virgil pulled away from him and Roman sat up, looking thoroughly confused.

"Virgil!" He gasped, a smile on his face. "You know, I had the weirdest dream, I- wait… did you just kiss me?" Virgil flushed.

"Don't tell your brother." He responded.

"Wait a minute!" Roman gasped. "That happened? That actually happened?"

"Roman, wait!" Virgil said urgently, and he proceeded to tell Roman exactly what had happened after he went down.

"This is a great situation!" Deceit said, alarmed.

"The mirror is cracked, what does that mean?" Patton asked.

"It doesn't mean that something escaped without being brought over by an existing side." He responded.

"We need to tell Virgil." Logan said immediately. "He'll want to know about this."

"You're very incorrect." Deceit nodded.

"Come on then, let's go!" Patton turned to run down the hallway, but someone was standing right in front of him.

"Are you insane?" Roman yelled. "You can't be in love with him! You don't know him! He threw you in a dangerous game and then locked you in a tower! It only works that way in Disney movies!"

"Says the prince." Virgil shot back, not looking up from the paper he was writing on.

"What are you doing?" Roman asked.

"Writing a coded note to Nate- that's Rebellion by the way- to tell the others that we're off to find Chaos and the looking glass already. I told them something different before they left, but I don't think we have the time." He folded the note up and left it on the window ledge.

"Are we going then?" Roman asked. Virgil nodded.

"And Roman, you'll need your sword." He said. Roman beamed and excitedly unsheathed his rapier.

"Huzzah!" He yelled. "Let us venture forth into the unknown to brave imminent dangers and emerge victorious heroes!"

"Or we could follow this nifty map, and return victorious and LIVING heroes." Virgil waved a map in front of his face.

"I thought you said no one knows where it is." Roman said.

"I did, and I lied, and I'm surprised Judaes didn't call me out on it. Actually, he must've thought he was getting confused or didn't no exactly what I was lying about, because I'm the only one who knows that this map exists… I may or may not have been the one who wrote it. It's a long story, okay?"

"Very well," Roman said. "Let's go then. What do I need my sword for?"

"For fighting the giant serpent that guards the looking glass." Virgil responded casually.

"YES!" Roman stabbed the air with his blade in celebration. Virgil started off down the corridor and led Roman off with him.

They made it back to the spot, gasping and panting. They'd run the whole way, fearing that whoever that side was would catch up with them. Virgil and Roman were gone, but Nate was there, reading a note.

"Okay, the heck is going on?" He demanded. "Virgil left this note saying he took Roman to find the looking glass and you'd explain what was going on. He also said to not open the box until he got here, but I already opened the box like three times and closed it right away, so I think that's out of my system." All three of them looked at one another, worry evident on their features.

"I hope Virge gets back soon." Patton whispered as Logan jumped into the story of what Virgil had told them.

"So where's the old dark sides?" He asked.

"We were perfectly able to get in, the mirror wasn't cracked in any way." He explained.

"What got out?" Nate asked, straightening up.

"We don't know, but I think whoever it was just chased us down three halls." Logan adjusted his tie and repositioned his glasses, then smoothed his hair down in a clear effort to appear more presentable. Patton shifted nervously and looked over his shoulder.

"What are we supposed to do until Virgil and Roman get back?" He asked.

"Find Tom and get his lazy butt over here." Nate shrugged.

"Seems like a logical enough course of action. Where would he be?" Logan said.

"I can show you where his corner of the dark domain is." Nate said, casually.

"Lead the way!" Patton said brightly.

Virgil felt something stir deep in his chest while he watched Roman battle the giant serpent. He didn't have to kill it, Virgil already knew, it would let them pass if Roman could prove himself to be courageous and noble enough. Roman battled fiercely and gave a huge whoop of delight when the snake opened its mouth and told him that. He turned to Virgil, smiling broadly and proudly.

"Did you see that, Virge?" He asked breathlessly, and Virgil couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, Prince Charming, I saw." He sighed, rolling his eyes. Roman smiled even bigger, then turned and looked into the mirror.

"Okay, so how do you work this thing?" He asked, putting a few rouge hairs back into place.

"Just walk through." Virgil replied, walking toward it, but he stopped dead in his tracks, gazing up at the frame of the mirror, looking horrified.

"What is it?" Roman asked, concerned. Virgil couldn't speak. He felt Roman's hand on his shoulder, and he swallowed, looking up at him.

"The mirror frame… it's cracked… someone's trying to get out." He said slowly, and Roman's eyes widened.

"I take it that's a bad thing?" He said, shifting. Virgil nodded once.

"We need to make sure the Dark Mirror isn't cracked." He said grimly. "Who knows what could come out of that again… heck, we could be dealing with depression again if it's been cracked."

"Let's go grab Innocence and go then." Roman said, stepping toward the glass.

"Roman wait!" Was it just Virgil, or did the room suddenly get hot when he grabbed Roman's hand? "If you go through the mirror now, you won't be able to get back through, let alone bring anyone out! It's broken!" Roman's eyes widened again.

"Virgil- you, you saved me… again." Roman gasped weakly. Virgil gave him a wry smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Fight or flight remember?" He chuckled nervously. Roman gave him a small smile in return, a very different smile than Virgil had ever seen from him. It reminded him forcefully of Caesar. Roman had stepped closer to him, that smile still painted on his face. Virgil swallowed and stepped backward. This seemed to shake Roman out of whatever daze he was in. He shook his head and blinked.

"Sorry, Virge… let's- let's go find the others." Virgil nodded, but kept a few feet between him and Roman the whole time. He wasn't completely sure what that was supposed to be, but he felt like it was about to be much more intimate than the friendship that Virgil might've wanted and he was Caesar's, no one else's, and he especially wasn't going to cheat on him with his little brother. When that thought crossed his mind, a strange pang stabbed his chest. He disregarded it as guilt for having kissed Roman earlier, that was something he'd regret for awhile. It was cruel to both his boyfriend and to Roman. Something deep in his gut told him that it wasn't guilt, but he ignored that. What else could it possibly be?


	11. Delusion's Domination

Chapter Eleven

Delusion's Domination

Everyone was gathered around in a big circle, Virgil sitting as far away from Roman as possible. They'd all been filled in on what happened with the mirrors, and Logan had suggested that Virgil's change had been due to the crack in the frame of the looking glass. Everyone agreed. He also suggested that the side that came out of the mirror may have been Delusion. Virgil didn't agree, but said nothing. Tom had been collected at some point, or perhaps he just showed up, nobody really remembered, they were sitting in numb shock and disbelief because of what Virgil had just said;

"Do any of you know what's in this box I had Nate bring to us?" He had asked them. None of them did. The other dark sides weren't supposed to know about it, the light sides couldn't remember. Virgil had known and expected this much. He took a deep breath, he steadied himself and said; "This box holds memories. Memories and powers. From us. Lucius stole them from us in hopes that it would make him more powerful. He was right, in a way. I don't think we can put the memories back. I wouldn't know how… or at least, I can't remember if I did know, but Lucius accidentally showed me how to give all the light sides their powers back." Logan had been the first to begin to recover from what had just been said.

"We used to have powers?" He asked. Virgil nodded.

"All the dark sides have at least one, I'm assuming it was the same for the light sides. You've seen Judaes's at the very least. He's used it on you, Logan. He can stop you from speaking unless Thomas says differently. I have powers too, that I just got them back from the dark one… you don't really want to know what they is. I probably won't use them, I don't really want to."

"What's your power?" Patton asked curiously. Virgil took a deep breath, and looked up at all of them, weighing the pros and cons of keeping his power a secret.

"One's called the shock ability." He said after a minute. "I can deliver an electric pulse of the correct frequency to force someone into a sporadic panic attack if I can touch them on the forehead, chest, or the bottom of the upper arm. The other is called mass panic. I can cast an aura that makes everyone that crosses it fall into a level of anxiety ranging from mildly nervous all the way to a complete blind panic that can cause them to pass out." Patton blinked, and Logan scooted a bit farther away from him. Virgil sighed, of course Logan didn't trust him.

"Those are pretty cool powers, kiddo." Patton said. "Scary, but cool." Virgil gave him a half smile.

"Do you know what our powers are?" Roman asked.

"No." Virgil admitted. "But, I have an idea." He opened the box slowly and lifted a pin up out of it. It was a red shield engraved with a golden castle.

"Wait- but… our logos are a newer addition." Logan pointed out. "So why would they be in this box that's been around since before we lost the power they supposedly have in them?" He sounded suspicious and wary.

"So you think I'm lying right?" Virgil growled. He heard his voice just as it was, a rasping, metallic, unearthly, low grinding that was barely identifiable as words. The dark sides all looked determined to not join in on the argument and were all pointedly looking in different directions. "Why would I lie about this? Even if I wasn't on your side? What would I have to gain from this, a good laugh? I can't believe you momentarily trusted a long time peer about a matter of life and death. Ha freaking ha. Get over yourself and listen." Logan blinked as though he were not prepared for Virgil to make a logical argument, which would make sense. Virgil inwardly smirked. He'd used logic against logic. "And in answer to your question, I don't know. Do I look like the dark one to you?...Roman, if you say yes I swear I'll punch you, you already made me feel really uncomfortable earlier and I'm surprised I didn't deck you then and there." Roman flinched, his grin flickering. "Here, put this on your shirt, it'll dissolve when you secure it to the fabric." He handed the badge to Roman, then gave the other badges to their rightful owners. "Before you put them on, I want to warn you, this will change your appearance a little. Probably nothing like mine, my powers are a lot darker than yours are." They all nodded and started to pin their badges to their clothing. The dark sides were now all watching them with rapt attention. Roman went first. He grew a few inches taller, and he became a bit more muscular.

"Wow!" When he spoke his voice was more lofty than it usually was, which was saying something, but it definitely hadn't changed like Virgil's had. Logan went next. His eyes turned a deeper shade of brown and his hair darkened as well, but it seemed that he'd lost an inch or two. Thomas would be ecstatic.

"I just got even shorter, didn't I?" His voice was deeper, more commanding. Patton finally got the pin unhinged and clipped it to his shirt. He began glowing faintly for a moment, a faint blue aura engulfing him, then turning to a blinding white. It cleared to reveal him looking almost completely different. His face seemed to have rounded slightly, or maybe that was just the expression he had. His hair had curled slightly and lightened considerably. He'd obtained a large amount of freckles and his eyes had turned bright blue.

"What do I look like?" He asked excitedly. His voice sounded the same really, but it carried a more calming feel to it, even Virgil suddenly couldn't remember why he was worried about facing off with Lucius for a moment when he heard him.

"Here, Patton." Nate handed him a mirror.

"You're revolting." Judaes complimented him.

"Dang." Tom shifted awkwardly. "Wish my powers had been that nice to me."

"How would they know how to use their powers if they don't know what they are?" Nate asked.

"Oh, easy, I know what they are." Patton said. "I don't know why I know, but I do."

"What's mine then, Pat?" Roman asked, standing up. The rest of them followed his lead and stood.

"You can create illusions and stuff like that." He replied. "Just stick your hand out like this-" He put his arm out in front of him, "think about the image you want to cast-"

Roman copied him, closing his eyes, "flick your wrist and say ochite kuru hana." Roman did as he was told and a shower of cherry blossoms fell from the ceiling. When they cleared a large, handsome, pure white unicorn was standing there.

"Yes!" Roman called victoriously. "Is it solid? I hope it's solid. I want to ride a unicorn!" He approached it cautiously, and touched it's muzzle. It tossed its head dramatically and leaned into his touch. "Guys, I have a unicorn." He said excitedly.

"What about me, Patton. What kind of power could I possibly have?" Logan asked, straightening his tie.

"Super speed and telekinesis." Patton answered simply. "I think you have telepathy to."

"So psychokinesis?" Logan said.

"Sure, I guess." Patton smiled. Logan's eyes narrowed, he made a pushing movement with his hand, and Roman toppled over onto the ground. "And I can do this." Patton called. He closed his eyes, and suddenly he was lifting off the ground, only a little at first, but he took off soaring through the air, nearly brushing the ceiling.

"Patton, you're going to hurt yourself!" Okay, maybe Virgil was slightly partial to Patton, but he panicked a little when he thought he was going to hit the ceiling. Patton only landed gently by Virgil's side and smiled calmingly at him.

"Will you help me demonstrate my other power?" Patton asked innocently. Virgil swallowed, about to say no, but reminded himself that Patton would never hurt him, and that Patton's power was probably gentle.

"Sure whatever." He replied with a shrug. Patton put a hand on Virgil's shoulder and pointed at Virgil's face with the index finger of his other hand and began tracing patterns in front of him. A thin line of pink light followed his finger. After a second, Virgil felt his heart rate slow considerably, and his breathing evened to a slow, steady pace. He felt calm, truly calm, even more so than he did whenever he was able to fall asleep. He let out a breath of relief.

"And I can make people fall asleep." He said cheerily.

"Nice, we've got four kick-butt superheroes and three bumbling light sides with powers." Nate said, leaning against the wall. Judaes rolled his eyes at him and Tom might have as well, but his face was covered by his helmet. "What's up next, fear-all leader?" Virgil crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing, clearly unimpressed.

"Well, we don't have the extra help, so plans are changing. Before we make any real moves, I'm going to go find Roman's brother and try to talk him over to our side. He's powerful, and we don't need him fighting against us, even if he won't completely turn against the dark one." 'Besides, I don't think I could fight him.' Virgil found himself thinking. 'I love him too much to hurt him.' Everyone nodded.

"Virge, hey, uh… what do you plan to do with the rest of us dark sides, once the dark one is out of the way, I mean." Nate asked, uncomfortably. "You're not going to banish us too, are you?"

"I'm not going to banish anyone." Virgil replied. "I'm trying to restore balance in Thomas's mind, not turn him into a pacifist. I'm going to put everything back to the way it was before all this started happening… best case scenario. Realistically, we're all going to end up in one of the mirrors, banished for all eternity, and Thomas is going to literally be lord Voldemort as a muggle."

"Very reassuring." Judaes said.

"I know, right?" Virgil asked sarcastically. "I'm the best at motivational pep talks." He turned and walked down the hall, not knowing exactly where he was going, but well aware that it didn't matter. Caesar would come to him no matter where he was so long as he called. 'That is if he hasn't decided to toss me out like the trash I am.' He walked for quite awhile, and decided on what he was going to do. He had to get Caesar on their side. He had to, or he didn't know what he was going to do. How could he choose? He found a dark corner, took a pocket knife out of his pocket, cast aside his hoodie, and flipped the blade open. He bit his lip and steeled himself, sliding down into a sitting position against the wall and lowered the tip of the blade to his wrist. He froze. Could he really do this? He didn't have to, he didn't want to. This would make Caesar listen to him. It would make even Logan pity and worry about him if he saw him like that. He took a deep breath, and pressed the knifeblade into his skin, biting back a hiss of pain, but allowing tears to slide down his cheeks. They would help later. It took him a remarkably long time to make five, shallow cuts on each wrist, because he kept having to stop and wait for some of the pain to ebb away. When he was done, he dropped the knife, and allowed himself to let some of his emotion out. He cried. Audibly. Perhaps sobbing would be a better way to describe what he was doing. "Caesar!" He cried, his arms wrapped around his legs, his face buried in his knees.

"Virgil!" Caesar was already there, kneeling by his side. "Virgil, baby, what's wrong?" He wrapped his arms around Virgil's shoulders, and Virgil allowed himself to melt into his embrace. "Virgil, baby, come on talk to me."

"I'm s-sorry!" He sobbed. "I'm s-so s-sorry! Y-you d-deserve so m-much b-better than me." He buried his face in the v his neck and shoulder made.

"No, Virgil that's not true." He said gently. "What made you think that? Why do you have a bloody knife- did you cut yourself?" Virgil gave a violent sob, clinging to the front of his shirt. "Come on baby, let me see them." He instructed gently. Virgil extended his arms and turned them so he could see the cuts. Caesar took his hands gently, looking down at the cuts sadly. "Virge, tell me what's wrong. I'll do everything I can to fix it." He cupped Virgil's chin and kissed him softly.

"I couldn't do it, I couldn't hurt them, I lied to you." He sobbed dramatically.

"What do you mean? What couldn't you do?" Caesar asked calmly.

"I didn't lock them up, I let them go, I couldn't do it. I lied to you and, and the dark one's going to banish me into the mirror and I'm never going to see you again!" He cried.

"Hey, hey, Virgil, calm down. What are you saying? You disobeyed the dark one because you love them?" Virgil nodded slightly, then something happened that he was not expecting. Caesar growled in anger, and pinned him up against the wall by the wrists. Virgil cried out in pain, his knees nearly collapsing out from under him.

"Caesar! P-please st-stop. You're hurting me!" He tried to twist out of his grasp, but in this position, he couldn't over power him. Gripping his wrists tightly in one hand, his other hand reached down and painfully grasped his jaw. A drop of blood fell onto Virgil's cheek beside his eye, and slid down to the floor with his tears.

"You're mine Virgil." He snarled. "You're not allowed to love them more than me."

"Caesar- I don't-" He cried out in pain again when Caesar applied more pressure to his wrists. "Caesar, please!"

"Get away from him!" Roman was running toward them, a sword in his hands. Caesar had to let go of Virgil to avoid being impaled by the blade.


	12. Wizard Duel

Chapter Twelve

Wizard Duel

IMMENSE TRIGGER WARNING: Okay, not really, I just needed your attention, because one of the scenes in this chapter may make you uncomfortable in all the wrong ways. I'll put a line with the word warning before it starts… and now that I think about it I probably should have put that before the whole slitting the wrists thing but… whatever. It's in the past now because I'm too lazy to add it in!

"What are you doing here, little brother?" Caesar asked coldly.

"I knew Virgil would call for you and I didn't trust you not to hurt him." He replied.

"Roman, get out of here, don't play the hero." Virgil attempted to force his voice back into the metallic rasp it had become, but sorrow and fear had taken over it, making him sound more like a frightened child than the master of darkness he was supposed to be.

"Virgil, I'll be fine. You need help and you're one of us." Roman maintained.

"How cute." Caesar chuckled darkly. "You think Virgil's on your side. Even if he was a goody-two-shoes like you at some point, he isn't now. He's mine, back off."

"You put some kind of spell on him, didn't you?" Roman challenged.

"I haven't a clue what you're talking about." Caesar smirked. "Virgil, baby, come with me. I won't tell the dark one what happened. We can pretend they woke up and broke out. Judaes won't snitch on you." Virgil didn't move. He was shaking ever so slightly, but his face was set in an angry, determined expression. He crossed his arms and stayed rooted to the spot. Caesar sighed. "Come on, baby, you know I love you. I got mad for a minute, yeah, but it was only because I thought I was going to lose you." Virgil's expression faltered, but he didn't move.

"Virge, he's only going to hurt you again." Roman warned him.

"He's lying, baby." Caesar said. "Just come back with me. I'll bandage up your wrists and I'll make you feel better. It'll be just the two of us. Nothing will ever hurt you again." Virgil's posture stiffened and some sort of gasping sound got caught in his throat.

"Virgil, listen to what he's saying and think about who you're talking to." Roman begged. "He's literally delusion." Virgil blinked and shook his head.

"I know." He agreed his voice warping back to his unnatural rasp. Caesar growled in anger, grabbed Virgil by the waist, pulled him close to him and kissed his lips. Virgil had been too surprised to clamp his mouth shut like he had the first time and he found himself wondering why he'd resisted at all. Caesar grunted and stumbled backward when Roman pulled him away by the collar of his shirt.

"I told you to get away from him." He hissed. 'When did Roman get here?' Virgil thought to himself.

"Make me." Caesar snarled.

"Fine." Roman agreed. Caesar blinked. "I challenge you to a duel, and if I win, you have to lift your spell off of Virgil."

"What will I get if I win?" Caesar raised an eyebrow. Roman seemed to think for a second.

"My powers." He answered, much to Caesar's obvious surprise. "You can only cast your illusions inside daydreams and the dark domain and they can't do much. Mine, on the other hand can be cast anywhere and are every much solid."

"Risk losing Virgil in exchange for getting extra powers? Very well" Virgil looked deeply hurt. "Don't worry baby, I wouldn't even consider it if I didn't know I would win." He soothed him.

"Here's the catch." Roman put his sword in its sheath. "We can only use our powers, nothing else." Caesar laughed.

"You're digging yourself deeper into your grave, little brother." He sneered. "This place is a little small for a proper duel, let's take this somewhere else." Caesar took Virgil's hand and led him toward a long, narrow, dark corridor. Roman walked right between them, forcing them apart.

"Absolutely not." Roman snapped at him. "If you so much as touch him again- ugh!" Virgil grabbed his wrist and flipped him over his shoulder.

"No one asked you to be here, so the least you can do is try not to be the most obnoxious human being on earth, princess funshine." Virgil growled, scowling at him. He turned to Caesar and smiled, cuddling up to him and laying his head on his shoulder. Roman felt his heart shatter watching that happen. Virgil had just hurt him more than he ever had before, both emotionally and physically, then went and did that right in front of him. He was beyond pissed now. Not at Virgil, at Caesar. All of this was his fault. All of it. He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and began formulating a plan of action. If there was one thing Virgil had taught him from being

Leader of their group, it was to not rush into things blindly. He followed them closely, a shard of his broken heart being ground into glittering dust every time Caesar kissed or squeezed Virgil and every time Virgil blushed or smiled at him. This specific corridor happened to end in a large, empty, dark room.

"Virgil, baby, you stay right here, okay?" Caesar purred. "I don't what you getting caught in the crossfire and getting hurt.

"Okay." Virgil's voice turned breathless and loving and Roman had to bite his lip to keep himself from sobbing. He had to look away when they started to kiss, he couldn't take it. He would've been fine with it, he told himself, if Virgil actually loved him, but it made him upset that he was using Virgil like that. He knew he was lying to himself, though. He knew it was because he wanted Virgil for himself. He stepped into the room, faced the opposite wall, and waited for Caesar to join him.

"Please be careful." Virgil's voice turned back to it's unnatural growl. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you." He kissed him again, and Roman nearly cried.

"Don't worry, darling, he could never defeat me. Pretty soon, I'll be just as strong as the dark one, and with you by my side, we can rule Thomas's mind. Just us. What do say about that?"

"I-I…" The truth was, Virgil didn't know what to say about that.

"It's alright, baby, take your time. I know it's a scary idea, trying to go up against the dark one, but I'll protect you, just like I am now." He turned and walked into the room, facing Roman. "Are you ready to face defeat, little brother?" Caesar jeered.

"I could ask you the same question, Caesar." Roman snapped. Caesar laughed and raised his arm above his head, bringing it down in a slashing movement. Roman threw himself backward to avoid whatever spell was just cast at him and when the jet of purple light hit the floor, a blackened thorn vine sprung up from the ground, sprouting dark purple roses. It lashed forward toward him, grabbing at his ankles.

"What the?" Roman gasped, jumping backward.

"Do you like them?" Caesar jeered. "I call them Virgil Nocturne." Virgil sighed breathlessly from the corridor, his expression uncharacteristically love struck. "Highly deadly and yet beautiful. Oh, and, don't think you can just hack it off your leg or arm. The thorns are very poisonous." Roman groaned slightly, being forced to leap back once again away from the vines once again.

"If you're going to name something after Virgil, make it something that's actually interesting." He flicked his wrist. "Ochite kuru hana." The vines turned to cherry blossoms, which fell into small heaps on the floor. A very small hand reached up from the delicate flowers, its fingers long and bony, made of black scales. A second hand joined it, then a wing and its pair. The wings were bat-like, the fingers black and scaly, the leather skin stretched out between them was dark purple. Slowly, the rest of a small dragon rose up on clawed feet, shaking petals off of its back. It had a long, whip like tail and a ridge of tall purple spikes trailing down its spine. It's eyes looked like they held the galaxy within them. It sneezed, and clouds of black and sparkling purple puffs rose up. Caesar laughed.

"What do you think that little lizard is going to do? I guess it could try and claw out my eyes." The little dragon gave a little squeaking roar and Caesar laughed even harder. "Well, well, Simba." He sneered. The dragon's expression turned angry and all of a sudden it was growing. Very quickly. In a matter of only seconds it stood at a proud seven feet tall, curling its tail around the whole room. Caesar abruptly stopped laughing.

"Meet Virgil Draconis." Roman said proudly. He discreetly glanced at Virgil, whose mouth was slightly open, eyes sparkling in awe. Roman felt as though he'd already won the duel.

"Not bad little brother, but he can't protect you from me." Caesar sneered. He raised his hand above his head again. He and Roman cast their next illusions at the same time, causing their creatures to lock in an immediate battle. A second latter both the snake-like animal Caesar had summoned and the giant bird Roman created dissolved into cherry blossoms and nightshade petals. Roman and Caesar both had to throw themselves to the side to avoid being struck by Roman's dragon, except Caesar wasn't able to avoid its jaws and its lightning fast tail at the same time. The dragon's tail wrapped around both of his legs and lifted him up off the ground.

"Unhand me you oversized handbag!" Caesar brought his hand up and suddenly, the dragon froze as though it were unable to move. It rapidly shrank back down to the size it originally was, about that of a chihuahua.

"Good one, Caesar." Virgil called. Roman could just feel himself lighting on fire when Caesar smirked and blew a kiss to Virgil. Screw honor. He conjured a jet of fire and watched with a vicious pleasure as it roared toward his older brother. "Watch out!" Of course Virgil would warn him. Caesar didn't have time to dodge the flames completely, but he did have enough time to shift so the flames only singed his ear.

"Of all the underhanded tricks!" He growled.

"I don't care!" Roman roared. "I'll sacrifice anything to win Virgil's freedom."

"He is free." Caesar growled back. "It's with you that he's locked up."

"Ochite kuru hana!" Roman cast his next illusion with fury and he was quite surprised when it came out differently than expected. There were no cherry blossoms this time. He'd imagined it to be a pegasus, a strong, mighty creature, but instead a thestral leapt forth. Very similar but polar opposites at the same time. Either way, both could work. Maybe a thestral was better, they were carnivores after all. A quick kick to Caesar's chest from the skeletal horse had him flying through the air and had Roman's dragon free and growing back to its full height. "Destroy him!" Roman commanded the dragon, pointing toward Caesar. Was that really his voice? It sounded different even to him. The dragon opened his mouth and a jolt of purple electricity materialized from its throat, speeding straight toward him.

"No!" The emotion in Virgil's voice made him look over. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and Roman couldn't stand that look of fear and pain in his eyes. Virgil didn't really love Caesar, but he thought he did right now, and who was Roman to take someone away from Virgil? He willed the creatures away, the lightning dying mere centimeters away from Caesar's face.

"There, I won." Roman stated emotionlessly. After all, the opposite of love isn't hate it's indifference, and Roman in no way loved his brother.

"Caesar!" Virgil was already by his side, holding his hand, brushing his bangs away from his face.

"It's okay, baby, I'm okay." Caesar grimaced. Virgil helped him to his feet.

"Release him from your spell." Roman commanded.

"I'm not under a spell!" Virgil spat. He turned to Caesar. "Come here, that must've hurt." Caesar embraced him warmly, and made direct eye contact with Roman while doing so.

"Even if he was, why should I release him, you didn't really win. You forfeited." Roman felt and saw his hand raise, noting that he didn't know or care what he was doing. He was numb with anger. He watched more as a bystander than the perpetrator as he snapped his fingers and fire sprung forth from between Virgil and Caesar pushing them both away from each other. Virgil stumbled backward, unharmed, while Caesar was seared and burned across his chest and arms, his shirt lighting ablaze. The flames were gone as soon as they appeared, leaving behind only a burning smell and Caesar's pained cries as he fell back onto the ground. If you won't relieve the spell yourself, I'll just kill you. I'm sure that'll end it. You're going back to the mirror, brother, and this time, you're not coming back out."

"Roman, stop! Please!" Virgil grabbed him around the waist from behind. "Don't hurt him, please. I'll do whatever you want, just don't do this." He felt a tear fall on the back of his neck, and he looked over to see Virgil's tear streaked face. That, more than anything shook him out of his daze. He registered fully, for the first time, what Virgil had said and what he was really doing. He lowered his hand and turned around to fully face him. He cupped Virgil's chin in both his hands, pulling them back when Virgil flinched and bit back a sob.

"Virge, I-" His voice broke and he looked back at Caesar, who was getting to his feet.

"Virgil! Run! Get out of here!" He told him desperately, struggling to stand straight up. "Save yourself. He's gone grey!" Virgil swallowed behind him, but he didn't move. 'Grey?' Roman thought. 'What does gone grey mean?'

"R-roman." Virgil croaked. "Please. It's me you wanted, not Caesar. I'll go with you, I'll do whatever you want me to, just don't hurt him." He placed himself in Roman's arms, sobbing. "You can make me your slave, whatever you want just don't hurt him, please."

"Then come with me." Roman said slowly. "I'll leave him here if you come with me."

"Virgil, don't!" Caesar lunged toward them, but fell to the ground, unable to keep his balance.

"I'm sorry." Virgil said, his voice turning back into that of a machine, and his expression turning blank. "I love you, Caesar. I'm doing this for you." He allowed Roman to lead him out of the room.

-WARNING-

"No! Stop! Don't do this!" A door sprung up between them and the room at Roman's whim, blocking out the sound of Caesar's calls. Virgil visibly bit back a sob once more, and Roman stopped walking.

"Let me see your wrists." Roman said gently. Virgil obeyed, looking away as he did so. Tear tracks were still visible on his cheeks, but his expression was unfeeling. Roman looked at his wrists for a moment. "I'm sure Logan will know what to do with these." He said after a second. "I'm glad you didn't make them very deep." Virgil didn't respond, he didn't move. Roman summoned Virgil's hoodie to his hand. "Here." He handed it to to him. "Put this back on." He didn't necessarily want him to. It wasn't like Virgil was bad to look at, but he knew Virgil liked wearing that hoodie and he almost never took it off. Virgil once again obeyed him, refusing to look up at him at all. "Better?" Roman asked. Virgil nodded once, stiffly. "Come on, Virge, let's go." Virgil didn't move.

"Virgil, I said let's go." Roman's hand closed around the cuts on Virgil's wrist, but before he had time to squeeze hard enough to cause any pain, Virgil squeaked and moved himself into Roman's arms. He forced himself not to cry and looked at Roman, glaring at him defiantly as he put his arms around Roman's shoulders. He knew he had to obey him, and he knew Roman wanted him. Maybe he could force himself to at least like doing what Roman wanted from him. Roman's eyes glazed over and he smiled ever so slightly. "Virgil."He whispered breathlessly. Virgil felt his arms wind around his waist and he closed his eyes, not in enjoyment, but so he could pretend it was Caesar holding him like this. He felt lips on his and tried not to cringe away at the contact. He pressed himself into the kiss hoping that this would be enough to satiate Roman. Roman humed into the kiss, clearly happy with it, raking his fingers through Virgil's hair. They pulled apart and Virgil looked down at his feet. He was thoroughly ashamed that he'd just let that happen. "Virgil, let's go." Roman said once again. He gently took Virgil's hand to lead him down the hall.

"Yes, master." Virgil replied quietly, tears threatening to spill over. Roman froze, and turned back to Virgil, an expression that reminded him far too much of Lucius stealing over his face.

"What did you just call me?" Virgil had never heard that voice from him before and he hoped he'd never hear it again. He whimpered taking half a step back.

"I'm sorry."

"What did you call me?" Roman asked again, stepping toward him.

"Master." Virgil whispered, his back now against the wall. Roman took another step toward him, a dangerous look spread across his features, and Virgil curled into himself bracing to be struck, covering his wrists so they couldn't be used against him again.


	13. Panic! At the Everywhere

A/N: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHGGGGGGHHHH Guys, I'm so sorry for leaving you with that trashy end of a chapter and then not posting for soooo loooong. Truth be told, I was drunk off of lack of sleep when I wrote that ending to the chapter. It's time for me to make a plea deal… Plea don't kill me? To make up for it I put Joan in this chapter and already started on the next one. Don't hurt me!

Chapter Thirteen

Panic! at the Everywhere

(Yes this was completely necessary don't me)

"Virgil!" Roman gasped. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I can't believe I just did that! I just- I got carried away, you have no idea how cute you are when you're glaring like that. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you think I was- oh my god, I'm so sorry Virge." Virgil blinked.

"But, but you- you told me to come with you when I- when I said… and then, you, you grabbed my wrist when I d-didn't listen." Virgil sputtered, confused.

"Oh, my god! I so did, Virgil I'm sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing. I'm only trying to bring you back to the others." Virgil looked confused for a minute, before his eyes widened in realization.

"Holy Sally Nightshade we're in the middle of an actual war, what am I doing?" Virgil yelled.

"There we are, you're back to your senses huh?" Roman said happily. "Great let's go!" He turned to leave but Virgil didn't move. "Virge, are you okay?"

"We needed him on our side. We can't win without him. If he and the dark one join forces against us, which they will, we're dead. He didn't use half of his power when he was dueling you, Roman, and you only beat him because you tapped into your inner darkness."

"MY WHAT?" Roman asked, sounding appalled.

"Didn't you think it was weird that you randomly were able to conjure fire out of nothing that wasn't even an illusion, or that you didn't have to speak your incantation for it? That was one of your darker powers." Roman felt his eyes go wide. "It's not as big of a deal as you think it is Roman." Virgil said quietly. "You've still got feelings, so you should be fine."

"What do you mean?" Roman asked.

"When you tap into your inner darkness as a side that started out light, you risk going grey. When a side goes grey, it means they've forgotten how to feel, they only want one thing, they have one goal and they don't even know why they have it. They're incredibly dangerous, but Thomas doesn't have any of them… right now. I mean you could also end up going completely dark I guess, but even that's not as dangerous or bad as going grey... are- are you okay?" It seemed as though Roman couldn't hear him and Virgil could suddenly sense the beginnings of an anxiety attack forming within Roman. But only he could give Thomas or the other sides an attack… but hadn't he been the one to give him the news? Great. He'd gone and done it again. "Come on Prince Charming." Virgil said as bracingly as his voice got. "Patton's gonna want to see you. Caesar can wait a minute I guess." He took Roman's hand, and that's when Roman seemed to lose it. He covered his ears, and Virgil could sense his beginning anxiety attack turning into something entirely different… something almost worse. Complete and utter panic.

"Stop! Stop! Don't say any more! You're lying!" Roman sound just as hysteric as he had when he first thought Virgil had turned on them. "I'm not evil! I'm not like him!"

"Roman, I know you're not, it's okay." He knew it was pointless, but he had to try something. A thought occurred to him. He took a deep breath. "PATTON! ROMAN NEEDS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT!"

"I'm here! What's wrong?" Virgil nearly jumped a foot in the air. There had been no hesitation, and Patton had announced his entrance with his over concerned dramatic dad voice.

"I accidentally sent him into a panic." Virgil replied immediately. "He thinks he's going grey… but he's not!" Patton cast his calming spell over Roman and he visibly relaxed, his shoulders losing their tension. Roman dissolved into tears, though it was clear he was actively trying to stop them.

"Roman, kiddo, it's okay." Patton said soothingly, pulling him into a hug. He looked over at Virgil and mouthed, "What did you say to him?" Virgil gave him an expression meant to say "I don't really know". Patton seemed to understand. "Roman, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry!" Roman sobbed into Patton's shoulder. "I promise I'm not like him!"

"Roman, it's okay, we believe you." Patton said quietly, rubbing his back in soothing circles. "We know you aren't dark, it's going to be fine." Roman only sobbed harder.

"I tried s-so hard!"

"And you're doing very well, kiddo." Patton reassured him soothingly. A slightly familiar but just as unpleasant feeling lurched in Virgil's stomach as he became aware of another panic attack brewing somewhere else. Right behind the door Roman had summoned.

"Caesar." Virgil breathed. "Patton, Roman, I'll be right back, I need to check on something." He bolted for the door before anyone could say anything and wrenched it open. He slammed it shut behind him and looked wildly around.

"Virgil!" Caesar was leaning against the wall, trying to keep himself upright. Virgil ran to his side. "Virgil, baby, I'm so glad you got away from him. You're so clever darling, I never would have thought of luring him away like that. Give me a minute, and we can get back to Lucius. I'll bandage up your wrists, they won't dare try to harm either of us in his presence. I'm sorry I failed you, next time I won't. I'll protect y-"

"Caesar." Virgil cut him off. "I can feel your panic and your worry."

"I was worried about you, baby." Caesar cooed. "I thought you were going to get hurt, or he was somehow going to convince you that you wanted him and not me."

"I don't love him in that way." Virgil reassured him. "You're the only person I love like this." He wrapped his arms slowly around Caesar's waist and leaned in to kiss him. Caesar kissed back greedily, practically devouring Virgil's mouth. Something was different about this kiss. It wasn't just that the passion behind it was different, it was somehow less magical than it had been before. Maybe because Caesar had to lean on him for support, shattering the illusion that Virgil was untouchable in his arms. Virgil still enjoyed the kiss of course. He did love him, after all.

"Come on, baby, let's go." Caesar struggled to stand all the way up.

"I'm sorry, I can't." He shook his head slowly. "Caesar, you have to stay out of the way, I couldn't bear to see you get hurt."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Caesar demanded, disbelieving.

"We're going to fix Thomas. You and I can finally be together, safely. And everything will stop being so damn confusing and dangerous." He reassured him.

"Virgil! No! You can't do this! He'll kill you! You'll be trapped in the mirror forever! If you won't reconsider for me, just think about what'll happen to Thomas without you!" Caesar said desperately. At the same time, Virgil felt the wrenching of his gut again, understanding that to mean someone else was becoming panicked. Nate? Nate and Judaes. He had to get back to them.

"I'm doing this for you Caesar. And don't worry, I'm not alone. He's alone." He didn't wait for Caesar's response and he ran away as fast as he could, straight out the large, heavy door, slamming it behind him once more.

"Virgil, you're an idiot!" Roman said angrily.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm sorry." He mumbled awkwardly. "Roman, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply you were-" He was cut off by Roman hugging him quite aggressively.

"I meant for running off to talk to him by yourself. You could have been hurt. What if he got mad again?" Roman said gently.

"I'm not one of your imaginary little princesses . " He countered crossly, he gently shoved Roman away from him again. "I can take care of myself."

"I know, I know, but that doesn't change that it was dangerous or that I care that you could have been hurt." Virgil felt his cheeks growing hot.

"We gotta go." He said, looking down the hall so they wouldn't see his blush. "Nate and Judaes are freaking about something.

"Lead the way!" Patton smiled "I don't know where we are." Virgil half smiled in spite of himself and led the group down the hallway.

-A Brief Interlude Back into the Real World-

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Silence.

Knock! Knock! Knock! More insistent this time.

Silence.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Silence.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Thomas, come on! I'm worried about you!" Joan's voice from the other side of the door.

Silence.

"If you don't open the door, I'm coming in anyway."

Silence.

The door clicked, unlocking. It swung open, Joan's spare keys hanging from the nob, still inserted in the key hole.

"Thomas?"

Silence.

Joan's shoes were wet from the rain and puddles outside, and they made sounds that would be comical against the floor. The situation was too tense for them to be considered as such.

"Thomas!"

Joan ran into the living room, and fell to their knees by Thomas's side. They shook Thomas gently.

"Thomas! Come on, wake up! Come on dude, this isn't funny! Come on, wake up!"

They gently shook him again.

Silence.

"Thomas!"

Joan's phone sounded abnormally loud as they pushed the buttons.

"Nine, one, one, what's your emergency?"

"M-my friend collapsed and I can't wake him up!"

"Can you tell me where you are?"

-Back to Thomas' mind now-

-Yeety, Yeety-

"Virgil!" Nate called in relief. "You didn't die!"

"I'm not the slightest bit happy you made it back!" Judaes said joyfully.

"So you weren't able to convince him, huh? Oh, well, that's one more head to smash." Tom punched his left hand with his right fist.

"Patton! I cannot believe you just disappeared without telling us where you were going right after Roman- Roman you're back too!" Logan took a bit of time to realize that Roman was even with the group.

"So, to be clear," Virgil began, "No, Roman's brother will not be able to join us. Patton had to rush out to help Roman, who had to duel his brother to protect me, and none of us are in need of immediate medical treatment."

"Then, why's there blood dripping out from your sleeves?" Nate demanded.

"Because Virgil lied and he's in need of medical treatment." Roman said matter of factly.

"Virgil! Why didn't you say anything? What happened?" Patton gasped. Virgil flinched.

"I uh- forgot." Virgil said, lamely.

"Sure you did." Judaes crossed his arms with a very Logan-like look of disbelief and annoyance.

"What did you do to yourself?" Nate demanded.

"Oooo, he knows." Roman said to Virgil.

"Fine. I cut myself, but I had to do it to get Roman's brother's attention. It would have worked… I'm sure of it… but Roman scared him off." Judaes looked doubtful, and Roman was regarding him with a mixture of sympathy and sadness.

"Virge!" Patton cried. "Come here, let me see your wrists. Patton pushed up his sleeves and Logan joined him in studying the cut marks.

"He'll be fine so long as we clean and bandage these soon. He was careful and didn't cut very deep." He stated tonelessly after a second. Those gathered let out a collective sigh and Virgil felt himself turn scarlet.

"It's okay though." Virgil said hastily in order to get attention off of him. "Roman was able to defeat his brother. He's not gone, but he's injured to the point where he can no longer pose a threat to us at this time." Everyone gave a cheer for Roman who bowed.

"Awe, it was nothing." He said, obviously trying to feign modesty. Most everyone chuckled at the display of quintessential Princy behavior."

"Okay, let me explain where we are at the moment. We have no extra help from the past sides. We all have powers. We only have to go up against one side… even though he is the most powerful and corrupting side in existence… and he has dozens of powers and abilities… and he could easily kill us all… but hey! We've at least got a chance, yeah?" He clapped his hands together.

"Perfect, all we gotta do is remind him that he can't walk all over us other sides." Nate said determinedly.

"Fundamentally, yes." Logan replied, adjusting his glasses.

"Why can't we just get rid of him and my no-good brother permanently?" Roman asked, cracking his knuckles. Virgil barely bit back an angry, scathing response, and instead said;

"Logan, explanation."

"Sides like them can't be held back by the mirrors. They'd easily come back again unless there was a side of equal or stronger power keeping them in. For the dark one, there is no one who could keep him away, but Patton may potentially be able to keep him under control with his equal and completely opposite power, mathematically speaking. And, Thomas tends to be predisposed to the light side tendencies so… I'd say we have only about a twenty percent chance of being able to force him into a mirror in the first place."

"So what are we supposed to do about him, then?" Roman demanded. "You're not suggesting that we just rough him up and bully him into submission, are you?" The dark sides and Virgil shared an awkward look with one another. "Oh my god!" Roman huffed.

"What? We can't do that!" Patton cried indignantly. "No matter how mean he is, that's wrong!"

"We're not bullying, so much as… showing him we won't go down without a fight." Tom offered.

"It'll be like this; we knock him down a peg, and the balance returns to normal. He'll still be here, we all will, but the power will remain with the light sides. As much as I disagree with literally everything you and Roman come up with, I recognize that Thomas doesn't and that the dark one's completely INSANE." Nate shrugged.

"Logically, that is the best outcome, and this is the only way to get to that desired location." Logan nodded his approval.

"I see the need… and-" He turned to Virgil, "IguessItrustoo." He said quickly.

"What?" Virgil asked.

"I trust you." Roman repeated, slowing his words to a regular speaking pace. Virgil tensed at Roman's pronouncement, and the tension in the air doubled. The collected dark sides awaited with baited breath.

"Oof." Logan commented. Everyone turned to cast him amazed looks. He was looking down at his flashcards, which were in his hand, and the group gave off a collective, "Ohhhhh". Effectively, Logan had shattered the tense atmosphere.

"Well, alright then. I guess now is the best time to start… It's now or never guys, remember if we screw this up, we're dead and Thomas turns evil."


	14. Sleep Tight

Chapter Fourteen

(The Full Chapter Renamed!)

Sleep Tight

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Lucius drawled. Patton squeaked in fear and took off down the hallway, Roman at his heels. Lucius chuckled darkly and walked swiftly down the hall after them, knowing that the hall was a dead end. Virgil and Nate dropped down to the ground, almost silently, once he disappeared from view. Logan and Deceit took to the shadows, following Lucius down the hall at a safe distance. Tom was already gone in search of Thomas somewhere else, but Virgil was almost sure that they would have kept him in the room Lucius had been guarding.

Patton's breath was coming in sharp gasps now, and Roman had passed him by a smidge bit, but they were almost at the 'end' of the hall. They turned the corner, saw the wall, and turned to face Lucius. He walked into view casually before they even had time to catch their breath, but hadn't he been walking?

"Hello boys." He drawled. "Are you lost?" Roman drew himself up to his full height They saw Logan and Deceit sneaking quietly up behind him.

-Yeety, Yeety-

"Okay, let me explain where we are at the moment. We have no extra help from the past sides. We all have powers. We only have to go up against one side… even though he is the most powerful and corrupting side in existence… and he has dozens of powers and abilities… and he could easily kill us all… but hey! We've at least got a chance, yeah?" He clapped his hands together.

"Perfect, all we gotta do is remind him that he can't walk all over us other sides." Nate said determinedly.

"Fundamentally, yes." Logan replied, adjusting his glasses.

"Why can't we just get rid of him and my no-good brother permanently?" Roman asked, cracking his knuckles. Virgil barely bit back an angry, scathing response, and instead said;

"Logan, explanation."

"Sides like them can't be held back by the mirrors. They'd easily come back again unless there was a side of equal or stronger power keeping them in. For the dark one, there is no one who could keep him away, but Patton may potentially be able to keep him under control with his equal and completely opposite power, mathematically speaking. And, Thomas tends to be predisposed to the light side tendencies so… I'd say we have only about a twenty percent chance of being able to force him into a mirror in the first place."

"So what are we supposed to do about him, then?" Roman demanded. "You're not suggesting that we just rough him up and bully him into submission, are you?" The dark sides and Virgil shared an awkward look with one another. "Oh my god!" Roman huffed.

"What? We can't do that!" Patton cried indignantly. "No matter how mean he is, that's wrong!"

"We're not bullying, so much as… showing him we won't go down without a fight." Tom offered.

"It'll be like this; we knock him down a peg, and the balance returns to normal. He'll still be here, we all will, but the power will remain with the light sides. As much as I disagree with literally everything you and Roman come up with, I recognize that Thomas doesn't and that the dark one's completely INSANE." Nate shrugged.

"Logically, that is the best outcome, and this is the only way to get to that desired location." Logan nodded his approval.

"I see the need… and-" He turned to Virgil, "IguessItrustoo." He said quickly.

"What?" Virgil asked.

"I trust you." Roman repeated, slowing his words to a regular speaking pace. Virgil tensed at Roman's pronouncement, and the tension in the air doubled. The collected dark sides awaited with baited breath.

"Oof." Logan commented. Everyone turned to cast him amazed looks. He was looking down at his flashcards, which were in his hand, and the group gave off a collective, "Ohhhhh". Effectively, Logan had shattered the tense atmosphere.

"Well, alright then. I guess now is the best time to start… It's now or never guys, remember if we screw this up, we're dead and Thomas turns evil."

"Wait a minute… didn't we just discuss this… I'm having a major case of deja vu." Roman interjected.

"Of course we didn't, Roman." Logan said impatiently. "If Virgil had already led us into battle, we'd be fighting right now."

"Yeah, I guess so… but something feels off."

"I agree." Virgil nodded. "But I might be making you feel that way. I'm kind of agitated."

"Maybe." Roman said, clearly not convinced.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Lucius drawled. Patton squeaked in fear and took off down the hallway, Roman at his heels. Lucius chuckled darkly and walked swiftly down the hall after them, knowing that the hall was a dead end. Virgil and Nate dropped down to the ground, almost silently, once he disappeared from view. Logan and Deceit took to the shadows, following Lucius down the hall at a safe distance. Tom was already gone in search of Thomas somewhere else, but Virgil was almost sure that they would have kept him in the room Lucius had been guarding.

Patton's breath was coming in sharp gasps now, and Roman had passed him by a smidge bit, but they were almost at the 'end' of the hall. They turned the corner, saw the wall, and turned to face Lucius. He walked into view casually before they even had time to catch their breath, but hadn't he been walking?

"Hello boys." He drawled. "Are you lost?" Roman drew himself up to his full height They saw Logan and Deceit sneaking quietly up behind him.

"Okay, now I know we've done this before." Roman mussed aloud. Lucius's wicked grin turned into a snarl of annoyance.

"Die, you irksome insects. I have no patience for your silly games."

-Yeety, Yeety-

"Okay, let me explain where we are at the moment. We have no extra help from the past sides. We all have powers. We only have to go up against one side… even though he is the most powerful and corrupting side in existence… and he has dozens of powers and abilities… and he could easily kill us all… but hey! We've at least got a chance, yeah?" He clapped his hands together.

"Perfect, all we gotta do is remind him that he can't walk all over us other sides." Nate said determinedly.

"Fundamentally, yes." Logan replied, adjusting his glasses.

"Why can't we just get rid of him and my no-good brother permanently?" Roman asked, cracking his knuckles. Virgil barely bit back an angry, scathing response, and instead said;

"Logan, explanation."

"Sides like them can't be held back by the mirrors. They'd easily come back again unless there was a side of equal or stronger power keeping them in. For the dark one, there is no one who could keep him away, but Patton may potentially be able to keep him under control with his equal and completely opposite power, mathematically speaking. And, Thomas tends to be predisposed to the light side tendencies so… I'd say we have only about a twenty percent chance of being able to force him into a mirror in the first place."

"So what are we supposed to do about him, then?" Roman demanded. "You're not suggesting that we just rough him up and bully him into submission, are you?" The dark sides and Virgil shared an awkward look with one another. "Oh my god!" Roman huffed.

"What? We can't do that!" Patton cried indignantly. "No matter how mean he is, that's wrong!"

"We're not bullying, so much as… showing him we won't go down without a fight." Tom offered.

"It'll be like this; we knock him down a peg, and the balance returns to normal. He'll still be here, we all will, but the power will remain with the light sides. As much as I disagree with literally everything you and Roman come up with, I recognize that Thomas doesn't and that the dark one's completely INSANE." Nate shrugged.

"Logically, that is the best outcome, and this is the only way to get to that desired location." Logan nodded his approval.

"I see the need… and-" He turned to Virgil, "IguessItrustoo." He said quickly.

"What?" Virgil asked.

"I trust you." Roman repeated, slowing his words to a regular speaking pace. Virgil tensed at Roman's pronouncement, and the tension in the air doubled. The collected dark sides awaited with baited breath.

"Oof." Logan commented. Everyone turned to cast him amazed looks. He was looking down at his flashcards, which were in his hand, and the group gave off a collective, "Ohhhhh". Effectively, Logan had shattered the tense atmosphere.

"Well, alright then. I guess now is the best time to start… It's now or never guys, remember if we screw this up, we're dead and Thomas turns evil."

"Wait a minute… didn't we just discuss this… I'm having a major case of deja vu." Roman interjected.

"Of course we didn't, Roman." Logan said impatiently. "If Virgil had already led us into battle, we'd be fighting right now."

"Yeah, I guess so… but something feels off."

"I agree." Virgil nodded. "But I might be making you feel that way. I'm kind of agitated."

"Maybe." Roman said, clearly not convinced.

"Wait, hold on there kiddos. There was still a pin in the box."

"We'll have to deal with it later, Patton. We know it's not yours, Roman's, Logan's, or mine, so it's probably not a great idea to use it now."

"Indeed, powers for a dark side can be incredibly volatile, and it may hurt the side more than help him if we give it to him under such emotional duress.

"But wait! You don't understand. I mean that it was still in there after everyone got theirs, but now it's not."

"What? That's not possible." Logan declared.

"It's true though." Patton protested.

"We believe you, Morality." Nate said, soothingly.

"I mean you're literally the embodiment of morals, we know you aren't lying to us." Tom reasoned.

"Besides that, I would never know." Judaes added.

Lucius was a very vain side, of course he was, why wouldn't he be? He was perfect. Being the embodiment of greed, he did tend to be… protective over his belongings. Even those that didn't actually belong to him. So when he saw the box he kept the light sides powers in was stolen, he first only felt a blind fury. Slowly, the realization set in. The light sides had their powers.

"Caesar!" Silence and stillness. Caesar did not answer his summon, but there was no way he could have betrayed him, could there be? "Caesar!" He was beginning to get angry now, no one defied Greed.

"Unfortunately, the Duke of dull delusional dreams won't be joining us." Lucius whipped around at the sound of the voice.

"YOU!"

The band of sides arrived at the room Nate had seen Lucius guarding not too long before then, but Lucius was nowhere in sight.

"Where do think he went?" Logan hissed.

"I have no idea." Virgil murmured. Inside the room, they heard Lucius bellow in rage.

"Hold still so I can kill you!" He snarled. The collected sides dropped down from the rafters of the mind palace and rushed the door, forgetting all about their plan. Roman was the first through the door, Virgil and Logan running in after everyone else, purely because the others had jumped the gun.

"Oh my Disney!"

-Yeety, Yeety-

"Remy?" All the light sides gasped upon seeing the rebellious boy.

"No, it's Chuck Norris. Who'd you think it was going to be... Picani?"

"What did you do to him?" Virgil asked, noticing Lucius lying on the floor behind Remy. Remy took a long sip from his coffee before answering.

"Put him to sleep." He answered simply.

"What? How… why… when did you even get involved in this?" Nate sputtered, obviously confused.

"Nate, honey, shut up and let me talk, mkay?" Nate flushed at Remy's condescending behavior. "So I showed up here, because Thomas has been asleep for a long time without me and I wanted to know why, and this piece of trash was running around messing things up. So I drop in on you guys to see what you were up to, but I hung out in the corner so you wouldn't see me… like Virgil does at parties. Anyway, so I saw a pin of a coffee cup in the box and decided it was mine, so I put it on and BANG! I remembered everything… except how to completely use my powers well. So I followed Patton around for a bit, and then this death eater wannabe killed you all, so I turned back time- yes I can do that, I do whatever I want, Logan can go suck jam out of a crofters jar." He looked at Logan over the top of his sunglasses, challenging him to say different. Logan made an indifferent kind of squeak, but did not contradict him. "Anyway, I tried to let Roman kind of remember what had happened so you wouldn't die again, but it didn't work, so I turned time back again and cut Lucifer here out of the picture before he could do anything, but he was stronger than I thought. Hey PatCat, come here and help me clear his mind out… you're like the humble one so I'm sure you'll work for it." Patton cocked his head to one side, confusedly.

"Okay, kiddo. " He complied.

"So you're telling me, we've been doing all of this powering up and planning, and literally all we needed to do is sleep?" Virgil demanded.

"Of course!" Logan sounded as though he could have slapped himself. "That's the number one reason of negative out of character behavior in teenagers and young adults, lack of sleep. We definitely haven't gotten enough sleep lately."

"Yeah, duh, when's the last time you saw me?" Remy asked, examining his fingernails. "I know I'm not reliable, but when you don't see me for eight days, you should know something's up."

"Thomas hasn't slept in eight days?" Logan asked incredulously. "Where were you?"

"Hey, don't blame me for your problems, you should have been paying attention Mr. I-write-everything-down-on-a-too-big-to-be-necessary-calendar." Logan seemed subdued by that, and visibly bit back a retort. "And in anyways, I'm like a vampire. I'm pale, dress in black, I'm only out at night, I'm elusive, my existence is sometimes questionable, and I've got to be invited in. I don't just sneak in… for Thomas specifically though, like sleep for other people… sleep for normal people. Like, you don't even know." Patton snorted.

"Well, this was incredibly pointless." Nate said.

"Nate, my man!" Remy said, obviously just noticing him. "What's the news from the dark side my dude."

"Just having a war fought for us by the embodiment of sleep that also happens to be my best friend." Nate shrugged.

"I thought I was your best friend." Tom said.

"Nope." Nate replied bluntly. "Come on Remy, let's go get coffee."

"Sure, sounds good." Remy replied. The two of them walked out the door, leaving a jokingly sputtering Tom behind in their wake.

"Well, if this is all taken care of-"

"Wait! Come on, there's no way it was that easy. Not even sleep is that powerful."

"Virgil, I know you're like really good at this whole war thing, but don't you think you're being a little paranoid? We can find Thomas on our own, yeah? The dark sides can go." Roman said flippantly.

"Kay, cool." Tom shrugged sinking out.

"Wait, no. What happens when he wakes up?" Virgil stressed.

"It's all right Virgil, he shouldn't be anywhere as rebellious now that we've had sleep." Logan said in an attempt to sooth him. "Thomas isn't in here, so let's go check out the other location, Roman."

"Sounds like a plan." He drew his katana.

"You don't need that." Logan attempted to reason with him.

"Wait, guys. He's still out there! You can't go wandering around the dark domain alone. Even if Lucius really is done, that means the war truce is too. Just because they helped us out once doesn't mean there our friends now."

"Oh, pish posh, they won't do anything." Roman said. "Besides, if they do pull anything, I'll be ready." He visibly gripped his sword harder. With that they left the room. Virgil felt his heart drop into his stomach and his blood ran cold. He took a few deep, steadying breaths. Maybe nothing would happen. But just as that thought crossed his mind, Lucius began to stir. This was not going to end well.


	15. Comfortably Numb

A/N: My friends, followers, and fans. The next chapter after this is going to be the last. But never fear, there will be a sequel. I would like to apologize, this chapter is very short. My friends, be prepared for bombshells. This chapter is loaded with super subtle hints about them, so be on the look out. Thank you so much for staying with me throughout all of this. You guys mean the world to me. You guys are my crofters... except I would never eat you. Anyways, on with the story!

Chapter Fifteen

Comfortably numb

"I should have known, Virgil." Lucius growled lowly. "I should have known you'd betray us." Patton gasped, and Judaes shifted quickly as though he were preparing for a fight.

"The light sides are my family. I didn't betray anyone." Virgil replied definitely.

"Oh no?" He raised an eyebrow, and suddenly Caesar rose up from the floor before them. He was still curled up on the floor, burned and clearly in pain.

"Caesar!" Virgil himself could hear the anguish in his own voice as the realization of what he had done crashed in upon him. He felt his knees buckle as he crashed to the ground next to him.

"Virgil." Caesar choked, looking up at him with pain in his eyes. "Are you okay baby?"

"M-me? Caesar look at yourself." Virgil bit back his tears forcefully as Patton kneeled beside them. "Patton! Patton please help him." He sobbed.

"I'll do everything I can." Patton assured him.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Caesar asked. "Come on Virge, you know everything's gonna be just fine. I won't let anything pull us apart, not even the mirrors. You know that don't you?" He reached a shaking hand up and brushed a tear off Virgil's cheek. "There's nothing to cry about." He assured him. "It's okay. Lucius is gonna win this easy, and then it'll be just us, okay?"

"Oh, but Caesar, didn't you hear?" Lucius drawled. "Virgil is fighting against us now." Caesar's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"No!" Caesar gasped. "Virgil you didn't. Tell me he's wrong!" Patton was still skimming the surface of Caesar's burn trying to heal him.

"I can't." Virgil shook his head. "I won't lie to you. Not again. It hurt too much the first time."

"Virge-"

"No Caesar listen." Virgil gathered up every ounce of courage he could muster. "It's me or him. You can't have both." He choked out, effectively making Caesar relax for some reason.

"There's my baby."

"What?" Virgil asked confused.

"You're acting like yourself again. That's all I wanted. I thought maybe the darkness would bring you back. I guess I was wrong. Of course I chose you baby."

"What?" Lucius roared. His rage was such that his face had turned rather red.

"You heard me." Caesar growled, getting to his feet on shaky legs, Patton and Virgil helping him. "Virgil, you said that you had to fix Thomas for us to be together safely. You said we'd be happy if you won, but you and I know there's no way for that to happen. No way except one." The grey on his outfit slowly turned white, and his pants morphed slowly to become the bottom half of the robes he was now dressed in. A cloud with purple stars surrounding it appeared on his forehead in glowing lights. His eyes suddenly began to glow the same purple as the stars and he stuck his hand out toward Lucius.

"What is this, Caesar?" Lucius demanded.

"Don't!" Caesar commanded. "Don't you dare use my name, you no longer have that right."

"Delusion, this is utter nonsense."

"No delusions anymore." Caesar growled. "I'd rather dream and know it's not real than to never know what is and isn't, and I think Thomas has that right too…" His voice softened. "And you do too, Virgil." He snapped his fingers. Virgil took a long, deep, sudden, breath and let it out in a long sigh. "I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me one day." He snapped his fingers again and a blinding white chord wound itself around the greedy side's neck. He immediately began tugging at it, trying to rid himself of it. "Patton, sir. Add a little bit of a calming energy into the band, it will force him to keep a level head." Caesar said. Patton did just that.

-A while Earlier-

"Virge," Thomas began cautiously. Virgil could feel the beginnings of a panic attack beginning to stir in Thomas. "It's us. D-don't you remember?" The last clue they had deciphered warned that Virgil would forget them if they didn't save him in time, but Virgil would have to purposefully let go of the memories.

"Of course he remembers us." Roman said, his usual confidence wavering ever so slightly. "I mean, unless he- he chose to forget." He cast desperate eyes on Virgil.

"He wouldn't do that." Patton shook his head violently.

"Of course I know you." Virgil said. Thomas had never felt more relieved in his life. Sure Virgil only existed in his head, but they were friends. He registered how absolutely dark and completely disturbing that was, but it was chased from his thoughts by the next event.

"That's right, of course you do, kiddo." Patton said, reaching to grab his wrist. Virgil hit Patton's hand away firmly with an outward forearm block.

"Don't touch me." He hissed, his voice warping to a demonic sound as it often did when he was afraid or sprang up in Patton's eyes and everyone gasped. "You light sides think you're so high and mighty." He snarled. "But you're in my world now. You don't run the show down here in the dark domain."

"What?" Thomas gasped. He felt as though his entire heart had filled with lead and suddenly had sunk down to the pit of his stomach. Virgil visibly stiffened.

"Well, I guess you kind of still do." Virgil corrected himself. "But it's not like you know how to stop us." He added quickly.

"Virgil! Don't be absurd!" Roman gasped, sounding as though he were on the verge of hysteria. "You," He chuckled slightly in manic way, "You're not a dark side. You're one of us."

"You hit Patton." Logan said blankly, his face dumbfounded. "You've always liked him best and you just hit him." Patton had tears running down his face.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch you." He whimpered. "I tried, really, I did."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Virgil spat. "I only know you because you're the light sides. I've never met you before." Patton began audibly sobbing into Logan's arms. Logan had a completely blank look on his face as though he couldn't process what had just happened.

"Wha- Virgil, no." Thomas said weakly. "We-we were too late." Roman burst out laughing.

"This- this is a joke, right?" He asked. "Yes, yes, ha ha Virgil, very funny. I can't believe you pulled a prank on us, that's so funny." Virgil raised an eyebrow and pulled his hoodie off up over his head. Roman gasped and stumbled backward. "You- you aren't- wha- I mean, you can't really be… Paranoia?" Roman asked weakly. Virgil smirked, lifting his arms.

"In the flesh." Logan fainted, and Patton nearly went down with him. Thomas had dropped the box of clues he had been holding. Roman fell to his knees.

"CAESAR!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. The other door to the room swung open and Ceasar casually strolled in.

"I'm glad you recognize my handiwork after all this time, little brother." Caesar drawled. "Come here, baby." Virgil gave a little half smile and Caesar spun him around and gave him a peck on the lips. Roman made a choking noise and paused halfway through the action of rising from the floor and drawing his sword. He keeled over and joined Logan on the floor, unconscious. "Dear, dear me Thomas." Caesar tutted.

"Looks like you're all alone… well, I guess you still have your morality, but… soon he'll be gone too." Virgil hissed. "They always leave, don't they? Everyone always leaves you."

"Yeah." Thomas agreed quietly, his voice breaking. Memories upon memories and flooded his mind. Friends leaving him and refusing to talk to him again, loved ones dying, his hardest breakups. All along the only person that he really had was himself. Even now, his best friends were him, and even they had been forced to leave him now.

"W- no, wait that's not true." Patton argued weakly.

"Oh, but it is." Virgil growled, stepping closer to Thomas. He leaned in and whispered in Thomas's ear; "Nobody loves you." Everything became grey and fuzzy. He barely registered that Patton was falling to the ground beside him. He honestly couldn't remember why he'd been so upset before, but he didn't feel better. He felt empty, hallow. Slowly, grey faded to black, and quiet, muffled voices faded to silence. He was only asleep of course.

"If you were asleep, you wouldn't be able to think that." A voice that sounded so familiar. Articulate, put together. But he didn't care who it was.

"Yes you do. If you didn't you wouldn't have told yourself that. You care about us." That voice was the same, yet completely different. Happy and caring. But it didn't make him feel anything more. He was able to put names to the voices now. Logan. Patton. And suddenly he was hearing them again. Bits and pieces of conversations. Laughing. Crying. Sobbing. But he didn't feel anything at all towards it. He was empty… grey was the only word for it. He could hear Virgil's pained gasps, his sharp breaths. The transitioned smoothly into pleads and begs, asking someone to stop. He was clearly in large amounts of pain.

"Stop! Stop! Don't say any more! You're lying!" That voice belonged to Roman "I'm not evil! I'm not like him!"

"No delusions anymore." This voice was less familiar than the rest, but he knew he ought to know it. "I'd rather dream and know it's not real than to never know what is and isn't, and I think Thomas has that right too…" His voice softened. "And you do too, Virgil." Thomas's eyes opened and he found himself staring up at the white ceiling of a hospital room. Slowly but surely, emotions began to flood him, and he found himself with tears flowing down his cheeks. No one was in the room, so he let himself cry. The numbness he had felt and completely given way. He was in pain now, emotionally and physically, but he found that he in no way wanted the numbness back. He decided Pink Floyd was wrong, there was no such thing as comfortably numb.


	16. Blood on the Carpet

A/N Since last chapter was so short (Sorry again) I put a lot of work and effort into this chapter, and I really hope you guys like it. Be prepared to have a lot of questions/worries. Also, two hundred points to the Hogwarts house of the person who picks up the huge major bombshell hint about Joan I put in this chapter. It's kind of subtle but not too hidden. Love and support to all of you. BTW, this chapter began on page 69 when typed out in size 11 font on google docs. I felt it was important to point that out.

Chapter Sixteen

Blood on the Carpet

After they put the calming collar on him, Lucius had gone berserk with rage before it kicked in. They led him into the light domain just as they planned, where a great battle had ensued. Caesar, who was not performing as well as he usually did due to his previous injuries, and he was cut during the struggle. Badly. Patton had patched him up best as he could, and thankfully Roman and Logan arrived in time to give him the cover they needed to do so. Roman was casting fire spells everywhere, but his aim with them was impeccable. Lucius had to throw himself out of the way to avoid them, and no one else got anywhere close to getting hit. After about half an hour, Lucius succumbed to the effects of the calming collar, and it dissipated. Afterwards he apologised profusely for everything he'd done, noting that he was out of line, but adding that light sides were still wrong about absolutely everything, besides Logan who he claimed was actually a neutral side. He left back into the dark domain, and Judaes went back with him.

Thomas arrived back at his apartment almost a day later, after he'd been cleared by the hospital. After a lot of tests, they could find nothing wrong with him other than lack of sleep. They told him the only thing he'd have to do was get more rest and to refrain from physically stressful activities for awhile. When he arrived home, a surprise greeted him. The couch was on its side, there was a small pool of blood on the carpet and there were scorch marks up and down the walls and on certain parts of the carpet.

"What the heck happened here?" He asked out loud to no one in general.

"What do you mean Thom- Mother of all things Disney!" Roman rose up from the floor and saw what had happened. "No way… LOGAN WHAT'S GOING ON?" Logan rose up from the ground next.

"Dear Newton." Logan murmured.

"I'm here, why's everyone nervous?" Virgil appeared suddenly on the stairs. "Oh for the love of Evanescence, what now?"

"Holy Magikarp Virgil what happened to you?"

"Powers, Logan and Roman changed a bit too, you might not really be able to tell though. Wait until you see Patton… but I think we have a slightly bigger problem, don't you?" He gestured wildly to the trashed living room.

"Hey kiddos what's the problem?"

"Oh my god Patton you're adorable." Thomas said.

"Awe, thanks kiddo. Pardon my language, but what the actual heck happened to our living room?"

"Guys… I think we did this." Roman said slowly. "Look, that's where Caesar bled over the carpet." He pointed at the blood splotch. "And look at the burn marks." He gestured to the scorched floor. "That was definitely me."

"How could we have done anything like that? We don't even actually exist." Virgil demanded.

"Actually… now that I think about it… we do interact with our surroundings. You and I have both thrown objects at Thomas and caused him mild pain. That's definitive proud that we are in some sense actually real." Logan pointed out. "Not to mention the fact that we can be seen on camera. I've been trying to make sense of that for a while… there's really only one solution I've been able to come up with."

"How is that even possible?" Thomas asked. "You guys are figments of my imagination…Right?"

"If that was ture, you'd be able to will us away… can you?" Logan questioned.

"Honestly, I never tried." Thomas replied.

"Perhaps you should attempt to in order to see if we are indeed imaginary." Logan advised.

"Try it on me first, Thomas, incase it actually works." Virgil offered.

"Or, better yet, we could do it on someone we don't care about." Roman said, casually.

"No such thing!" Patton declared.

"Isn't there some other kind of test we can use?" Thomas asked, uneasily. "I didn't really think you guys up, you just came, so if it works, what if I can't get you back?"

"I suppose we could attempt to interact with surrounding objects again, however you might only be imagining that the living room looks any different than it did."

"Hold on!" Virgil interrupted. "Are you trying to say Thomas is hallucinating us?"

"I'm only saying that it's a possibility." Logan explained gently.

"Then, how do we show up on camera?" Roman demanded.

"We don't know if we really do. When Thomas makes Sanders Sides youtube videos, he's playing all of us and his friends are working the cameras, when he takes videos of us alone, he's the only one who sees them. We don't know if others can see us or not." Logan pointed out.

"But we think for ourselves." Virgil noted.

"Do we?" Logan asked.

"I don't know do we?" Virgil suddenly doubted himself.

"Of course we do kiddo." Patton laughed.

"But who do we know that this isn't just Thomas thinking this? What if we really are hallucinations? Thomas could be really really sick."

"Woah! Let's not jump to conclusions there, Virgil." Thomas cautioned.

"But what if you were the one jumping to conclusions Thomas, what if I'm not the one thinking that?"

"You see what you've done, Logan?" Roman asked, crossing to wrap an arm around Virgil's shoulders in an empty attempt to comfort him.

"Calm down there, kiddos. Logan, I'm sure you could come up with a way we can prove that this is real."

"Of course I can, Patton." Logan replied, straightening his tie. "Thomas, text Joan or one of your other friends and ask them to come help you with the couch. When they get here, they will either see the living room as you do and they will help you set the couch up again and we will know there is something off going on, or they will see it as it always is, and they can advise you on what the next best course of action would be. Preferably seeking professional help, your own wellbeing in interest of course." Thomas swallowed.

"Okay, that sounds like a good idea." Roman and Virgil had already sunk out, and Logan and Patton did as well after the morality side gave Thomas a reassuring smile. Thomas's breath hitched, and he pulled out his phone to call Joan.

-Yeety, Yeety-

Joan hear their phone ringing in the other room. "Wait, shh, someone's calling. Maybe it's him." Joan rushed into the kitchen, grabbing their phone off the counter where they had accidently left it earlier. "Hey Thomas! Everything okay over there?"

"Uh, I'm not sure." Thomas replied uncertainly. "I came home, and the couch was on its side and there are burn marks on the carpet. Do you think you can come over to help me with the couch? I'm not supposed to be trying to do stuff like that on my own yet."

"Burn marks? Are you sure you're okay? You sound a little different."

"I think so… I'm just a little freaked out, ya know?"

"Yeah, that'd definitely be pretty creepy to come home to. Don't worry though, I'll be right over."

"Thank you."

"Of course, what are best friends for?" Thomas laughed uneasily.

-Yeety, Yeety-

There was a knock on the door, and Thomas opened it, relieved to see that Joan had gotten there so quickly.

"Hey, Thomas." Joan greeted him.

"Hey Joan, thanks for getting here." Thomas responded, relieved.

"Dang Thomas!" Joan exclaimed once they saw the living room. "Is that blood on the carpet?"

"If it is, it's not mine. The doctors said the only thing wrong with me was exhaustion." Thomas said truthfully.

"Creepy." Joan mussed.

"Yeah." Thomas agreed slowly. With Joan's help, Thomas was able to put the couch back in its original place, and Joan tried to help him scrub the red-brown stain out of the carpet, but it proved very difficult to remove.

"Thank you so much for all your help Joan, I really can't thank you enough. Would you like to watch a movie or something?" Thomas offered.

"Thanks, Thomas, I'd like to but I'm kind of supposed to be at work in an hour. Sorry." Joan said.

"No, no. That's okay." Thomas assured them as they walked toward the door. "And thanks again."

"No problem, Thomas." Joan replied. "I just hope some crazy weird guy didn't break into your house." And just like that they were gone. Thomas heaved a great sight, and plopped down on the couch.

"Hey Thomas, you know what you've gotta do." Virgil said, appearing suddenly beside him on the couch. "They've got to know." He then sunk out once more, leaving Thomas alone with his thoughts.

"Okay, guys. Come on out." He said after a while. First came Roman, wearing a curious expression. Then came Logan, brows furrowed in worry, the most emotional expression he'd had in a long time. Then came Patton, a sort of sad smile on his face. But it didn't stop there. Judaes was next, followed by Nate. Tom came soon after. Lucius, too followed a guilty light behind his eyes, but his expression was unfaltering. Caesar, in a strange twist, descended down from the ceiling, landing elegantly on the ground. "Good news, I'm not crazy." Thomas said, awkwardly, smiling a little. Patton let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's great." He said brightly.

"No Patton, it's not." Logan corrected darkly. "Either situation is bad… of course we don't want Thomas to be ill, but now the question must be asked… what are we?" Roman swallowed uncomfortably, and the others shared worried or nervous looks.

"What does it matter?" Lucius asked after a moment. "What does it matter that we have the ability to touch things and be seen? We are still just the same as we were. You lot are somewhat less disgusting than the rest of the people. I'm better than all of you, and we have an effect on what Thomas feels. Nothing has changed, has it?"

"Hey, you're right." Roman said slowly. "Ew gross he was right about something." He added to himself.

"Awe, you're an okay guy, aren't you Lucy?" Patton said, giggling slightly.

"What? I- no- wait! Lucy? I- How dare you? I am the ruler of the dark sides!"

"About that." Virgil said quickly, reappearing suddenly with a look of confusion and slight fear on his normally detached face. "Remember how, you said that the light sides once had a ruler?" He looked at Lucius. "Who was he?"

"You mean you don't know?" Nate asked.

"No, we do not." Logan replied. "But I'm assuming that the ruler was Roman, since he retained quite a royal-like personality and mindset."

"Obviously" Roman smirked.

"The ruler of the light sides, is Patton." Lucius raised an eyebrow as he answered.

BTW: You just read the name of our favorite angsty little storm cloud 666 times.


	17. A Continuation?

"Guys! I've just decided! The Sequel to this is soon going to be taken down and added to this as a second part!" Roman grins

"Sure, Princy, but why?" Virgil looks up from his phone.

"So that everyone following this one can get the rest of the story, Incredible Sulk."

"Okay... so when is this going to happen?"

"Some time before Christmas... We've got a lot of projects going." Roman smiles nervously.

Virgil shudders.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"Anyways, hey everyone! We're coming back! Thank you so much for supporting us in the past! You mean a lot to us!" Roman smiles and waves.

"You sure do!" Patton chimes in. "We couldn't do this without you kiddos!"

"Well, we could, it would just be slightly silly and not nearly as awarding." Logan comments, not looking up from his book.

"Yeah, sure." Roman waves his hand dismissively. "Anyways, I hope you're ready for a whole host of more chills and thrills. And a lot more me!"

"Dude... you're hardly in the second part." Virgil points out. Roman pouts.

"Yeah I know."


	18. PART TWO Six Songs A Sungin

_**Part Two**_

Morality Crowned

Chapter One

Six Songs A-Sungin

A/N

Okay guys, just to be clear almost none of the things in the last one have been resolved yet. I am very aware of how many questions I left unanswered, don't worry, they're coming back at some point, I won't forget about any of them. The mirrors are kind of important in this one… like super important, also… I reworked the chapter just a smidge bit.

Extra A/N

OMG guys! Over 10,000 views? Thank you so much!

October 6th, 2019,

It's been exactly three months since the fiasco with the dark sides that sent Thomas to the hospital. Ever since Lucius convinced us… or rather, some of us… that we don't have to worry too much about being something other than purposeful imaginary figments or whatever we'd be considered… well, it seems like everyone's forgotten about it, except that all the light sides have made it a habit to remain in the real world, and a few of them have even ventured outside Thomas's home, without him. Lucius has been quiet lately, and Caesar still hasn't been seen. After everything that happened… I haven't decided if that is a good or bad thing. Since it was revealed that we are our own people, I could not stop repeating the words Deceit told me in my head. "Someday you might be rid of us all". I can only assume he's said it multiple times to many people… but I can't forget it. What if-

He closed the journal, stowing it inside his desk drawer when he became aware of someone standing behind him.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

-26 Days to Halloween-

Virgil took a deep, long breath, and leaned forward over the table toward Roman.

"No." He said simply and quietly, but his tone held no room for argument. Roman missed this, of course, and pressed the subject.

"Come on, Virgil, it'll be fun… No one will know who you are… they don't even have to see you." He said.

"I guess that's a good thing, I have one of the ugliest faces in existence." He mumbled.

"We all have pretty much the same face." Roman pointed out.

"I know what I said." Virgil replied bitterly.

"Ah!" Roman grabbed at his chest as though mortally wounded. Thomas wandered into the room, looking at them strangely.

"What are you trying to get him to do?" He asked.

"I want him to join my podcast." Roman replied. "I need someone to help tell a story about a cryptid attack, and Virgil was my best bet."

"Hold on, you didn't say anything about it being about cryptids." Virgil said, suddenly looking mildly interested. "Which one are we doing?"

"Any sort of shape shifter, it just has to fit for this chapter of my story." He replied. Thomas laughed slightly, shaking his head. He crossed to the counter and reached for the coffee pot, finding it empty. "You just missed Remy." Roman said in explanation. Thomas chuckled again, and started making more coffee.

"Hey, kiddos, does anyone know why there's a crayon drawing on the wall?" Patton poked his head into the kitchen, causing both Thomas and Virgil to look at Roman.

"What?" He asked, looking between them. "It wasn't me." He sounded highly affronted.

"Maybe it was Remy?" Virgil shrugged. "Seems like something he'd make Thomas do in his sleep."

"Yeah, maybe." Patton said, stepping fully into the doorway with a spray bottle and a now multicolored wash rag in hand. "I can't get it off though… maybe Logan knows how. Has anyone seen him today?" Virgil yawned and shrugged.

"Sorry Pat, just woke up." He said. Roman and Thomas shook their heads.

"Maybe I can help." Roman offered, standing up.

"Thanks Princey." Patton said brightly, and the two of them left the kitchen.

-Yeety, Yeety-

Patton and Roman stood by the wall that had been colored on, looking at it oddly.

"What do you mean, these weren't here before?" Roman asked confusedly.

"I mean there weren't as many drawings here when I left… it was only these two." Patton clarified.

"That's odd." Roman conceded.

"Everyone was in the kitchen though. Well, besides Logan, but he would never do this." Patton commented thoughtfully.

"Not to worry, your majesty, I'll get to the bottom of this!" Roman declared confidently. Patton giggled.

"Awe, thanks kiddo. You're so sweet."

"Don't even worry about it… though we should probably try to get this crayon off first." Roman replied with a smile. He returned back to scrubbing at the wall, Patton following his lead.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are."

"Isn't that a weird song to teach a little kid?" Roman mused aloud.

"What do you mean kiddo?" Patton asked.

"Just that it says it's a star in the song, and then asks what it is in the same sentence. It kind of seems like it's promoting stupidity to be honest." Roman shrugged, continuing to scrub at the crayon that refused to come off. Patton giggled again.

"You sound a bit like Logan." He said playfully. Roman made his signature affronted prince sound.

"Please don't ever say that again." He groaned, causing Patton to giggle once more. They returned back to scrubbing at the pictures. "It's weird, the crayon isn't even smudging." Roman grunted.

"Yeah, I know." Patton agreed.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round, the wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town."

"Hey Roman, how are you doing that?" Patton asked curiously.

"Doing what?" Roman asked.

"Making your voice sound like that." Patton replied.

"I don't understand." Roman admitted. "I'm not doing anything with my voice."

"But you sounded so much like a little kid when you were singing." Patton said.

"Pat… I wasn't singing… I thought that was you." Roman said slowly, turning to look at Patton. Patton looked up and down the hallway.

"B-but no one else is here." Patton said nervously.

"Maybe it was Virgil or Remy messing with us." Roman offered in a frail attempt to soothe his nerves, but it seemed to work as Patton relaxed a bit.

"Yeah, you're right, those two are silly like that sometimes." He smiled broadly. They both, however, jumped when they heard something large clatter to the floor, and a door slam. After sparing a small, worried glance in each other's direction, they set off toward the sound.

Thomas, now with a steaming mug of coffee, sat across from virgil at the table. They sat in companionable silence for a while, Thomas sipping his coffee, and Virgil occasionally taking gulps of Mt. Dew. Before either one of them had even thought to say something, they heard a small voice. They both looked over at each other as though to confirm the sound was real. It was quiet, distant, soft, and slow. The voice was singing;

"The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out."

"Okay! The house is haunted! Say goodbye to the house, Thomas. We're moving and never coming here again!"

"Woah, Virgil, settle down there buddy." Thomas said, putting a reassuring hand on Virgil's shoulder. "I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation." His voice, however, betrayed him; wavering ever so slightly. The child's voice returned.

"Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again." Virgil shot him a disbelieving, slightly frightened look.

"Uh, Logan! Come here for a minute please." Thomas called. Logan rose up from the tile of the kitchen, wearing his signature holier than thou expression.

"Yes Thomas?" He replied evenly.

"Shh, shh, shh." Thomas put a finger to his lips. "Listen for a second, kay?" Thomas replied. Everyone was perfectly still for a moment. That silent moment seemed to stretch over a few minutes, though it couldn't have been more than a second or two, or Logan would have lost his patience. The silence was broken by that same, small voice.

"Above black birds a wheeling, All of a sudden swooping, my little baby stealing, sleep little baby sleep. Above black birds a soaring, a crown of pearls left lying, your silly father's snoring, sleep little baby sleep." A chair next to Logan slowly pulled itself away from the table, as though someone were about to sit in it. Virgil stood up so fast the chair he had just vacated clattered to the floor behind him. The small voice returned, sounding much closer, but still quiet and harmless. "Above black birds a flying, my little baby clutching, and all the world's a spying, sleep little baby sleep." Virgil's eyes darted to the door and back to the chair that he would have to inevitably pass in order to get to the exit. "Above black birds ascending," The voice had gotten louder. It was now clearly audible, down to fine details. The voice belonged to a small boy, probably about eight. "My baby's flesh a rending." His voice became echoey, emotionless, cold, and somehow, even more chilling than it had been. "And all the world attending." His voice only got louder. A mug on the table, that had previously been Thomas's coffee, lifted off the table and tipped as though a person had picked it up and took a sip. The voice dropped to a near whisper singing; "Sleep little baby sleep." In accordance with the final note of the ghost's song, the mug clattered to the ground, the chair fell over backwards, and the door to the kitchen swung open, then slammed shut. Taking that as his queue, Virgil began to sink out once more.

"We're moving out of here as soon as possible. We can bunk with Joan for a night or something. I'd rather stay the night at someone else's house than here. We could go anywhere, but we're not staying here." Thomas gulped nervously.

"So, Logan? What's the explanation?" For a few, long moments, no one moved. "Logan?" Thomas asked again. "Teach?" Roman and Patton burst through the door just in time to see Logan hit the floor in a dead faint.

"Logan!" Patton was by his side before Thomas had even registered what had happened.

"Thomas, what happened, where's Virgil." Roman demanded quickly, as Patton began trying to wake Logan.

"There was, there was some kind of ghost." Thomas said, fearfully.

"Ghost?" Roman repeated.

"Guys, he's coming to." Patton cried after a moment.

"What happened?" Logan groaned.

"You fainted after the whole singing thing." Thomas said, aiding Patton in helping Logan to his feet.

"Oh, right. I remember now." Logan mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

"Wait, you guys heard singing too?" Roman asked.

"Yeah." Virgil suddenly appeared once more, making everyone jump. "And cups were floating, a chair got thrown, and a door got slammed. Like I said, this place is haunted and we're leaving. Now!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Virgil. It's likely one of the dark sides, after all we can manipulate our surroundings, and change our appearance at will, so who's to say the dark sides wouldn't make themselves invisible and cause a stress and fear inducing situation in order to offset the balance in Thomas's mind once more. There's no cause for worry." Logan explained calmly.

"Oh yeah, then why'd you faint?" Virgil bit back, aggressively. Logan flushed, his face twisting into a scowl.

"I got caught up in the moment and fell prey to a human instinct called panic, I'm sure you're familiar with that particular weakness." He retorted.

"Oh, and what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Virgil growled back.

"Come on kiddos, please stop fighting." Patton asked softly. The tone of his voice snapped Logan and Virgil out of their rage immediately.

"Sorry Pat." Virgil mumbled, not quite meeting his eye. Logan said nothing, but looked as though he were about to.

"Logan's theory makes sense." Thomas said after a second.

"I wouldn't put it past my brother." Roman said, distaste clear in his every word.

"But he isn't a dark side anymore… he hasn't even been seen for the last couple months." Thomas said. Roman pursed his lips and looked away from the others.

"Caesar is the least of our worries." He said darkly, and he exited the room. Virgil and Thomas shot each other a nervous look.

"Do you ever get the feeling that Roman's hiding something from us?" Patton asked. Shifting on his feet as though nervous.

"Yeah, but I think everyone's hiding things from me." Virgil replied.

"I can't see Roman being capable of hiding much from us." Logan said. "After all, he likes to run his mouth about everything.

"That's true, I suppose." Thomas said.

"He hid Caesar from us just fine." A strangely mask-like look came over his face.

"Virge, kiddo, we know you're upset about what happened with him. I am too, it's really frustrating for me that someone would do that to you, so I can't imagine how upset it would make you, but you have to know that Roman tried everything he could to stop it from happening." Patton said gently, sounding a little sad.

"You can't blame him for that." Thomas agreed, just as gently as Patton.

"I know." Virgil sighed. "Roman did try… he almost went grey for me… it's just… difficult to trust him now." He subconsciously rubbed at the scars on his arms that stood only to remind him of how emotionally taxing that war was to him. Patton nodded understandingly.

"It may very well be a long while before you can fully trust him again." Logan nodded. The group fell silent for a moment, however it was more of a contemplating, distracted silence rather than an awkward one. The silence was disturbed by a loud, and somehow disturbing thump, coming from upstairs. They each looked to one another, standing tense and still. There was nothing for a moment… two moments… an eternity… and then there was a scream.


	19. Moody Princy

Chapter Two

Moody Princy

A/N: Wow, so I don't have wifi where I live in the summer, so posting is kind of not an option. I'm so sorry of gone this long without posting. I haven't given up, I promise. Roman won't let me.

The group dashed out the door, heading in the direction of the scream. They came across Remy in the hallway, who was looking rather pale.

"Remy…?" Virgil started cautiously, wondering what on Earth could scare Remy.

"This is gonna sound really weird, but I think the house is haunted." He said in response. There were a few crayons on the floor next to him, and a half-drawn something on the wall. "Either that, or crayons learned how to levitate… are you guys messing with me? If so, it's funny, if not, I think we should leave."

"See, Remy agrees. Let's go!" Virgil growled.

"Don't be ridiculous Virgil." Logan said calmly. "Even if this wasn't a tasteless form of distraction by the dark sides, crayon drawings and singing poses no threat to our well being. There is no reason to leave the apartment…"

"Oh yes there is!" Remy interrupted.

"I never knew you were afraid of ghosts, Remy." Thomas said.

"I'm not afraid of them… okay maybe I am a little bit, but what sleep side isn't. No one ever sleeps after encountering a ghost. And in anyway, we just started being haunted, which means we did something to upset it, which means it's angry-"

"And we're gonna die." Virgil finished for him.

"Exactly." Remy replied.

"Or, the dark sides are trying to off set us." Logan huffed, clearly annoyed at being ignored.

"Wait, wait, shh, listen." Virgil put a finger to his lips. The group paused, and they were able to hear a muffled voice that was clearly yelling.

"Who else would be doing it?" The voice paused as though it were listening to a response. "This is my one chance here, I'm not going to mess it up." The voice had gotten closer, and was now easily discernible as Roman's. He walked around the corner, scowling into a hand mirror he was holding.

"Princy…" Virgil began cautiously. "Were you just yelling at your reflection?" Roman looked up, clearly startled at the hallway having people in it. He flushed scarlet, and tucked the mirror into a bag he'd been holding.

"Like you haven't done that before." He snapped irritably. Virgil, however, did not seem embarrassed by this, nor was he phased in the least.

"And you aren't a self-disgusted edge lord. Cough it up, what's going on?"

"Are you okay kiddo?" Patton asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Roman replied. "Logan, do you know of a good book I can distract myself with?"

"Try reading Ink Heart if you haven't already done so." Logan replied. "Why do you ask? It seems something must be wrong if you want to lose yourself in a fantasy world of someone else's creation."

"I'm just trying to draw inspiration, that's all." He replied.

"Falsehood, you just specifically asked for a book to distract yourself with." Logan countered smoothly. Roman huffed, frustrated.

"What's eating at you?" Thomas asked, concerned.

"Excuse me for being a little out of sorts after something that scary just happened." He snapped viciously. Patton could just feel Thomas's guilt at having upset Princy so much. With that, Roman slumped out of the room with a posture reminiscent of Virgil's defensive one.

"Now we know something's wrong." Patton said gently, putting a hand on Roman's shoulder as he passed him. He shrugged it off to continue to walk down the hallway, but Remy blocked him.

"Dang Roman, I assumed you'd be the one to listen to the king." He said jokingly, but with a touch of concern behind his voice. Roman turned again toward Patton.

"Forgive me, your majesty." He bit out sarcastically.

"Patton wasn't even the one that brought that up." Logan pointed out, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, back off princy." Virgil growled.

"Roman, talk to us kiddo." Patton said, concerned.

"Is that an order?" Roman challenged.

"You know I wouldn't force you to." Patton sighed.

"Then forget it." He pushed past Remy, more violently than necessary, and stalked off down the hall.

"Who the heck peed in his coffee?" Remy glared at him, rubbing his shoulder.

"I don't know, but it seems important that we find out." Virgil growled.

"What do you mean, Virge?" Patton asked.

"I mean that the last time Roman was in a bad mood, Caesar came around and the dark one tried to take over Thomas's mind. Now he's being even more of a jerk, and he's being secretive about it too." He replied darkly.

"Yes, and don't forget the ominous warning he left us with not too long ago." Logan added.

"Caesar is the least of our worries." Thomas quoted.

"I can grab one of my buddies and we can draw out what we need to know from his dreams." Remy offered.

"We can't do that!" Patton squeaked.

"Why not?" Virgil challenged.

"Because it's wrong." Patton sighed. " And you know Roman wouldn't let us do it to you, Virge."

"I don't have dreams to spy on." Virgil mumbled, moodily.

"It seems like a reasonable enough course of action to me." Logan said.

"Ultimately it's your decision, Thomas." Virgil pointed out.

"Well, if it'll help us help him, I don't see the harm." Thomas mussed out loud.

"The harm is, we'll be breaking the trust he has in us, and it might make him feel worse." Patton reasoned.

"He broke the trust we had in him, and I'm the only one who seems to remember that." Virgil pointed out.

"Come on, kiddo, don't be like that." Patton begged him. He gave him a teary puppy-eyed look and Virgil huffed out a huge sigh.

"Look, Pat, I want to be able to trust him too, but we can't. It's plain and simple. He betrayed that trust and has done nothing to earn it back." He said slowly.

"Going off of that logic, we shouldn't trust you either." Logan pointed out. Something flashed behind Virgil's eyes as he turned to face Logan.

"Fine." Was all he said before he began to sink out.

"Virge wait! Logan didn't mean that, did ya teach?" Patton cried.

"I never say things I don't mean." Logan replied tonelessly as Virgil disappeared.

"Wow, Logan, that was rough. Even I wouldn't have said something like that to him." Remy raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, that was low, Logic." Thomas agreed. It was a testament to the tense atmosphere that Patton made no pun about Logan being low.

"I wasn't trying to upset him, I was trying to show him that his logic was faulty. We can trust him well enough, we should be able to trust Roman." Logan explained.

"Well, unfortunately, that's not how Virgil interpreted it." Thomas sighed. "You've got to remember how insecure he is. He already thinks he doesn't belong with us, you can't say stuff like that to him."

"It seems you can't say anything to Virgil." Logan rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Teach, don't be like that." Patton said. "I think we're all just a little on edge after what happened. How about I go talk to Roman and Virgil and we all have some coffee or hot chocolate together?"

"Sounds good to me." Thomas said with a yawn.

"Sorry Pat, if I hang around any longer, Thomas will fall asleep. Maybe some other time." He smiled and sunk through the floor.

"It sounds pleasant enough." Logan agreed.

"Awesome!" Patton said. "I'll go get them." He closed his eyes and willed himself to follow the feeling of dread and anxiousness he knew would lead him to Virgil. Not surprisingly, when he opened his eyes, he found himself in front of Virgil's room. He knocked gently

"Hey kiddo, can I come in?" Patton asked in the voice he reserved specifically for his favorite dark son.

"No." Virgil's voice came out muffled through the door.

"Will you come out to talk to me then, son?" He tried again.

"No." Patton's heart broke at the tremor in Virgil's voice.

"Please? I want to make sure you're okay." Patton said.

"I'm fine." But it sounded like he was fighting against tears.

"Okay, kiddo, you don't have to talk if you don't want to… will you at least come have a cup of cocoa? We've got the dark chocolate mint still, I know it's your favorite. We can even add the little purple marshmallows." The door slowly opened to reveal a slightly puffy-eyed Virgil with a watery smile.

"That sounds nice, your highness." Virgil replied with a slight laugh. Relieved, Patton giggled and took his hand to lead him out of Anxiety hall. "Will Princy be there too?" Virgil asked, following behind Patton without hesitation.

"I sure hope so." Patton replied. "But I won't ask him to come if it makes you too uncomfortable."

"No, no, I want him to be there. I have an apology to make to him." Virgil replied, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand Patton wasn't holding.

"Awe! I'm so proud of you Virge." Patton gushed. Virgil smiled slightly and Patton beamed at him. "I'm sure Roman will appreciate it too."

"I sure hope so." Virgil mumbled.

"Thomas and Logan are making coffee I think, so I'll drop you off there, grab Roman, and come back, is that okay?" Patton asked gently.

"Sure Pat." Virgil half smiled. They walked up out of the mind palace, entering the physical world again to see Roman already there, talking to Thomas and Logan.

"Oh, hey kiddo! I didn't think you'd be up here already. Do you wanna stay and have coffee and cocoa with us?" He hadn't noticed the tense and worried expression on Logan's face until he'd said it. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing at all." Roman responded without turning around. Even though Patton couldn't see his face, he knew there was something off about his response. Virgil stiffened next to him, and Patton knew that he could sense it too. Roman stood, still with his back facing them. "I'll make some cocoa for you guys, okay?"

"Uhm, yeah, thanks Ro." Patton replied, leading Virgil to the table.

"Of course your highness." There was no trace of mockery in his voice, in fact the way he said it was more reminiscent of the way he had earlier when they were scrubbing crayon off the walls. Patton smiled and laughed, though he was still a little uneasy.

"You feeling any better Princy?" Patton asked conversationally. Roman was already spooning cocoa mix into two different mugs.

"Yes, actually, I'm feeling quite a lot better. Thank you for asking." He replied. "I'm sorry for the way I acted toward you earlier, I was just upset."

"That's okay, kiddo, I understand how that gets sometimes." He replied gently, as Logan caught his eye. He was clearly trying to tell him something, but Patton didn't know what. Thomas too was trying to say something to them, but he kept glancing over his shoulder at Roman. Virgil shot him a nervous, worried look. Patton tried to smile back reassuringly, but he was worried to, and he knew Virgil could feel it. In a moment, Roman turned to face them, and handed them each of them a cup of hot chocolate. Patton looked up at him, with a thank you ready to be said, but what he saw made the words die in his throat. Roman's eyes were bright green, and his pupils looked like slits. Seemingly oblivious to Patton's fear, Roman smiled at him. A smile that reached too far across his face. A smile that showed too many teeth. A smile that showed fangs. A smile that chilled Patton's blood. A smile that looked like a death sentence.


	20. Kohan

Chapter Three

Kohan

"You know what, I just remembered, you were supposed to help me with my cat Patton." Virgil said suddenly. Patton didn't remember him saying anything about a cat and assumed that it was his way of getting them away from the frightening scene in front of them.

"Right, yeah, we'll be right back." Patton said, standing up.

"What's wrong with your cat, Virge?" Roman asked softly. His smile turning into a small frown.

"I think she's got some kind of sliver or thorn in her paw, but she won't let me look at it." He invented smoothly.

"She may have gotten an infection." Logan said, also standing. "I'll look at her too, okay?"

"Thanks teach, you're a lifesaver." Virgil said, the relief on his face too convincing to be faked.

"Thomas could you go see if we still have antiseptic in the bathroom?" Logan instructed.

"Sure." Thomas said, making his way toward the bathroom.

"Is there something I can do to help?" How had Patton mistaken that voice for Roman's? It sounded nothing like him now. Now it was a dangerous sound. Higher than Roman's but darker. Somehow evil.

"Thanks kiddo, but I think we got everything covered." Patton said with a small smile. "Let's go show Logan where your cat is, Virge." Patton said, grabbing both Virgil's and Logan's wrists and pulling them toward the hall. Once out of ear-shot of Roman, they both turned to Logan.

"What the heck is going on?" Virgil demanded.

"I'm not completely sure, but I believe a dark side may be attempting to impersonate Roman and is unaware of the slight differences they are displaying."

"I hope the real Roman's okay." Patton said nervously.

"So do I." Thomas agreed, stepping into the Hall just behind them.

"What are we supposed to do? We've gotta help him." Virgil asked.

"Just a few moments ago, you were talking to us about how we can't trust him." Logan pointed out, clearly confused.

"Yeah, but I believe that Roman would try to save me if something like this happened. I'm not trying to say he's a bad guy or that I don't like him. I'm really not. He's annoying, but his heart is in the right place. I just don't trust him with secrets. He doesn't understand a lot of things and he's accidentally self-destructive."

"Even if he didn't trust Roman at all, he could still care about him." Thomas added. "I can't trust Virgil to be correct, but I still love him."

"Thanks, Thomas." Virgil half smiled, scoffing and, shaking his head.

"Who do we know that would know exactly what's happening with Roman?" Logan mussed out loud.

"I… think I know I guy." Virgil murmured.

"Who, kiddo?" Patton asked both curiously and anxiously.

"You aren't gonna like it." Virgil replied uneasily, looking at Logan.

"As long as it's not…" Logan trailed off, looking at Virgil incredulously.

"Wait, what? Who?" Thomas asked.

"Are we talking about Wisdom?" Patton asked.

"Yes." Virgil replied.

"What's so wrong about Wisdom?" Thomas asked, confused. "Isn't wisdom a good thing?"

"I don't know for other's wisdom sides," Logan began bitterly, "but yours is highly obnoxious."

"He really is." Virgil said.

"Thank you, Virgil." Logan said smugly.

"Nt." He finished.

"What?" Logan looked at him quizzically.

"I said nt. He really isn't. You just think he is because he's smarter than you." Virgil challenged.

"I- wha- ugh how dare- what? No. He's not smarter than I am. I think he's obnoxious because he brushes me aside and listens to me even less than Roman does. I dislike him because he thinks he always knows better than I without considering what I'm saying."

"Really?" Virgil said, feigning interest. "You know, that sounds really familiar, but it couldn't possibly, it's not like anyone does that to us on a regular basis." His words dripped with irony and sarcasm.

"I've probably mentioned it before." Logan replied, missing the point entirely.

"And you wonder why he thinks he's smarter than you." Virgil mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry you don't like him Logan." Patton said sympathetically. "But if there's even a chance he knows what happened to Princy, we've got to talk to him."

"Well, good luck finding him." Logan huffed, crossing his arms and turning his nose up. "He's never around when you need him and he's always pushing himself into conversations when he's unnecessary." Virgil was making a 'stop talking now' face at Logan, the whole time he was grumbling about Wisdom, but he didn't heed him.

"Ah, the inane ramblings of an intelligent fool." Wisdom had, at some point, appeared behind Logan. Oddly, enough, he was dressed in a light grey hoodie and dark blue sweatpants. His hair was rumpled and was sticking up in places. That being said, he still looked very cleanly. There wasn't a spot of dirt anywhere on him or his clothing, and his teeth practically sparkled with how well taken care of they were. His eyes sparkled with a light that reminded Thomas of the description of Albus Dumbledore.

"Wisdom." Logan bit out.

"Logic." Wisdom regarded him kindly.

"Hey, Winston." Patton waved at him, then enveloped him in a large hug.

"Patton, it's been a long time my friend. How are things?" He replied with a smile, hugging Patton nearly as tightly.

"Well, actually, right now something's wrong with Roman." Patton said in his worried dad voice.

"Roman? The dreamer? Whatever is wrong with him?" Winston cocked his head to one side.

"Well, he's-"

"Possessed." Virgil interjected.

"He is not possessed." Logan scoffed. Winston made a shooing motion with his hand at Logan and said;

"Let the man speak, Logic." He looked kindly to Virgil, ignoring the indignant looking Logan behind him. "Why do you say possessed?"

"Well for one, his eyes are the wrong color and they're glowing. His voice sounds different than it did before. And he's acting way out of character. He's quiet and calm, and he apologized without being prompted to." Winston nodded thoughtfully while Virgil explained his thought process.

"Now Virgil, my angst-ridden friend, can you tell me what other things, in your experience, have looked or worked similar to what you just described to me?" A thoughtful look crossed Virgil's features for a moment.

"When Deceit forces someone to lie." He said slowly after a moment.

"You rang?" Judaes appeared beside him.

"Hi Deceit." Patton said. Deceit nodded at him with a slight smile on is human face and a deep scowl on his snake face.

"No." Virgil wrinkled his nose up at him. A look of something like sadness marred the human side of Judaes's face.

"I wasn't under the impression we had put our past behind us after we battled the dark one together." He said slowly.

"Yeah well, you were wrong." Virgil huffed. "But since you're here, do you know if any of the other dark sides can control others behaviors like you do?"

"The dark one can't, but the others can." He responded, tilting his head to one side in confusion. Virgil swore and Patton gasped.

"Language, Virge." He chastised gently.

"I highly doubt the dark one would be that slopy-" Logan was once again waved away by Winston.

"Judaes, my boy, I see your scales returned. Pity. Can you tell me if the dark one leaves obvious traces when he controls others behaviors?" He said calmly.

"Yes, he does." Judaes responded, looking even more so puzzled. "You can't see my control at all, but you can see his."

"Understood, thank you for your help. And when you return to the dark domain, please don't go telling the others that we're asking around, all right?" Winston replied brightly.

"I planned on it." Judaes nodded. He casted one last, sad look at Virgil, then sunk out.

"Well, we know two people who it can't be, that's a good start, is it not?" Wisdom clapped his hands together with a smile, then bounced once on the balls of his feet. "Are there any other factors in the situation we may want to look at?" Logan huffed and crossed his arms.

"If you're so ominicient, why don't you tell us what we're overlooking?" He challenged, clearly annoyed.

"I am wise, Logic, not all-knowing. You are intelligence, I am the knowledge of how to properly use intelligence." He corrected gently.

"Are you trying to imply that I don't know how to use intelligence?" He shot back angrily.

"I don't think that's what he's trying to say." Patton attempted to soothe him.

"He is correct, Logic. I didn't mean to imply that you were incompetent. I simply meant to highlight the difference between us, perhaps it's better said as this; You are the analytical side that typically tries to take a literal approach without the tinted lenses of emotion, whereas I take the time to look through each lense and compare all the images to come up with the clearest picture I can." Winston said.

"Like if you and I were a gem fusion!" Patton squealed. "How cute is that?"

"How cute is what?" Roman walked into the hallway, smiling slightly. He looked around at each of them and the smile slowly slid into a frown. "Is everything alright ? Did you have a problem with your cat's paw Virge?" Virgil fought back a shutter at the sound of his nickname being hissed by that voice attempting to be Roman.

"No, no, everything's fine with her." He replied, forcing himself to look away from the glowing eyes behind the mask that used to be Princy.

"Kohan, dear boy, I haven't heard from you in so very long. I'd heard you'd been locked in the mirror." Roman looked toward him, tilted his head to one side and regarded Winston for a moment. And slowly, the green began to fade out of his eyes. Standing next to him was a small little boy, who looked to be about five or six years old. His skin was pale, and his eyes were the same green that Roman's had just been. His hair was messy and black with grey tips, and he was clutching a grey, stuffed dragon. He was dressed in a white sweater and grey sweatpants. He smiled widely.

"Wiston!" He called, jumping into Wisdom's arms. Patton gasped.

"Precious." He breathed.

"What the actual heck just happened? Roman demanded. Logan was staring blankly at Kohan, as though he couldn't understand what he was looking at. Virgil visibly tensed up.

"It appears this precious creature was influencing you." Wisdom said, looking at the little boy in his arms fondly.

"Wait what?" Roman made a face somewhere between confusion and indignation.

"Now, Kohan, do you remember what I told you about doing that?" Winston asked with a gentle smile on his face.

"I'm not suppos tah." He replied with a little frown. "I just wannated him to not be mad no more. I wannated him to smile again." He sounded very sad.

"Awe." Patton sighed.

"Princy's my faveit." He explained.

"Awe." This time Roman was the one to coo at him. "I love this kid." He said delightedly. Kohan wiggled out of Winston's arms and looked around, interestedly.

"Hi Thomas! Hi Pannin! Hi Mr. Logan Sir!" He looked up at Virgil and his eyes grew wide. Virgil's lip turned up into a sneer as he regarded the child with cold disdain. Kohan looked back to Winston. "Whossit?" He asked him, pointing at Virgil.

"His name is Virgil." Winston replied gently. "He didn't used to be as… colorful."

"Vishil." Kohan declared, smiling at him.

"Virgil." He corrected.

"Vrishol." He tried again.

"Virgil." He repeated. His sneer wavering slightly, and a fond light appearing in his eyes.

"Vurshall?" He tried once more.

"Virgil." He said again.

"Panda." Kohan decided.

"Awe, look he already made a nickname for you, Virge." Patton squealed.

"Looks like you've got yourself a fan, Virge." Thomas joked. Kohan hugged his arm and burried his face in Virgil's sleeve.

"I'm trying to remain stoic, right now, but that is just so precious." Logan said, a smile tugging at his lips. At his pronouncement, Kohan ducked behind Roman, looking warily at Logan.

"Hey, what's up?" Patton asked, concerned, kneeling next to the little boy.

"Princy won let him hurt me." He stated matter of factly.

"Why would Logan hurt you, Kohan?" He asked, brow furrowing.

"Scary." Was all he said in reply.

"Awe don't worry, little guy. He won't hurt you." Roman smiled at him softly. He looked around the hall, then peaked back up at Virgil from behind Roman's leg.

"Where Wiston?" Virgil cast a look around the hall as well.

"Good question." He murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uhm… I don't know." Kohan sniffed, rubbing his hand over his eyes, then launched himself into Virgil's arms. "Woah! Okay! That happened! Holy Evanescence kid."

"S-sorry." He sniffed, burying his head in Virgil's hoodie. "B-but I'm sc-scared tah be all lone. The ghost is scary an Mr. Logan's scary an I don't got my Wiston no more an I don wanna be lone!"

"Oh," Patton sighed, getting down on eye level with him again. "It's okay kiddo, we'll help you find Winston." But Kohan shook his head.

"He don want me no more. I broke a rule an an he don like it when I'm bad an he left this time an that means he don want me no more."

"I'm sure that's not true." Patton said, smoothing his hair down a little, while Virgil awkwardly tried to return the hug.

"Even if that weren't, Wisdom abandoned him here with us and that's a cold hard fact. If he's as wise as he claims to be, he knew exactly what he was doing, both in an ethical standpoint and emotionally to this specific child." Logan said crossly.

"Yeah, we're not bringing him back to Wisdom." Virgil agreed, picking Kohan up off the floor and perching him on his hip. Kohan, in turn, buried his face in the joining of Virgil's neck and shoulder. Thomas nodded in agreement.

"Would you look at that, Anxiety getting protective of a little one. Isn't that sweet."

"Go away." Virgil commanded, without once looking behind him toward the source of the voice. There stood Lucius, in all his forboding glory, and Virgil was snubbing him.

"Fancy yourself the king?" Lucius sneered.

"Thank you for reminding me." Virgil commented. "Patton, if you tell him to leave he has to, or it's considered an act of war." Patton shifted awkwardly beside him. "C'mon Pat, he's scaring Kohan." Virgil added. Though Virgil couldn't sense any signs of increased fear from the small child in his arms, he knew it had to be true. If the child was afraid of Logan, then he had to be afraid of Lucius. Patton cleared his throat.

"Yes… uhm… I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." It was the same sort of time of voice he had taken with Deceit when he had said 'you're in my spot'. Lucius sneered at him, but sunk out anyways. Virgil cradled Kohan closer, and looked toward Patton.

"Speaking of war, you've got to start making decisions. There are sides you have to me-" He was cut of by a loud, joyus giggle that echoed throughout the hallway. Kohan squeaked and attempted to burrow closer to Virgil.

"I thought Kohan was the ghost." Logan stated, looking confused.

"But he said he was afraid of the ghost." Roman pointed out.

"Does this mean the house actually is haunted?" Thomas asked.

"Yes." Virgil replied, even as Logan said;

"No."

"Well, that clears that up." Roman said sarcastically.

"There's a ghost." Kohan nodded. "He's scary. Lots and lots of scary."

"What does he look like?" Thomas asked him. Kohan turned in Virgil's arms to look at him.

"Like me." He replied. "But opposite. Like a mirror." Patton watched, confused and concerned, as a cascade of different emotions passed over Roman's face. Understanding, fear, anger, fear again, confusion, understanding again, and then fear once more.

"Ro, are you okay?" He asked him. Roman took a step back, looking up at a mirror mounted to the wall, then around at each of the sides' faces, resting longer on Virgil's than the others.

"I- I have to go." He stuttered out, then he sunk out.


	21. Ilogically Logical

Chapter Four

Illogically Logical

A/N: A large part of this was written between two and three in the morning on a Sunday. Don't judge please.

October 7th, 2019

Roman completely disappeared yesterday and we've all been looking for him. I can't help but feel like he'll never return to us… and it's honestly terrifying. I have no idea what's happening to him, and every time I think about it… well, it's bad. Kohan seems to be getting more and more attached to me. It's kind of cute, but obviously I'm not gonna say that in front of the other sides. He kind of reminds me of myself. He's scared and worries about everything, but he still wants to trust and be loved. I'm glad he likes me so much, having him with me is actually helping me a lot.

October 10th, 2019

Thomas had us call a light conference today. Wisdom even showed up. You know it's bad when he thinks he has to help. Kohan cried when he saw him and said he didn't want to leave me, so I kept him with me through the meeting. I know what it's like to worry about stupid stuff. Besides, when he was freaking out, he even called me dad. I couldn't make him leave after that. Logan told Patton that he'd have to start making decisions soon, something I had said a little while ago. Pat agreed and he appointed Winston advisor to him, which made Logan pissed. He was fine after Patton gave him the position of Chief of intelligence though. I don't think Patton knows what that really entails, but it's a good decision either way. I'm a general now… it's weird, because that's the light equivalent to Chief Reign of Fear and that was my position under the dark one. I know Pat doesn't know that. I mentioned that Roman may have been taken captive by the dark sides as a covert act of war, and surprisingly, no one shot me down. I almost wish they had… because if Logan and Winston agree, that means it's probably right. Winston suggested that Logan attempt to see if he could gather rumors circulating from the dark side, and Logan said that he would be doing so. He also suggested we should try to reach out to the more elusive light sides that aren't typically used on a day to day basis and Patton volunteered to do it. I have no idea what to do, but I hope we find him soon. Something tells me we won't.

October 25th, 2019

There's still no sign of Roman, and Thomas is suffering. He hasn't finished a single project or started any new ones since Roman left. Not only that, but Thomas started neglecting his appearance and he's stopped being able to feel confident. It worries me, because Roman should still be affecting him, even if we don't know where he is. Unless he either chose to duck out, or something happened to him. Either way… it's not good. Truth be told, I'm really worried about him. He's my friend. And… I almost wish he was more than that. I miss him a lot, and I feel really guilty. Maybe if I had apologized to him after Kohan let go he wouldn't have stayed gone. Maybe if I'd admitted I liked him, he wouldn't have been so sad. Maybe if I'd trusted him, he'd have had a reason to trust me. And maybe he'd have told me what was wrong. Maybe I could have helped him.

I hate myself for it.

I'll never forgive myself. And the worst part is…

I'll never know if I have a reason to be so disgusted with myself.

I'll never know if it would have changed anything.

-6 days to Halloween-

Logan walked into the living room to sit down with a good book, but stopped dead in his tracks.

"Virgil! What happened in here?" Virgil appeared next to the television at Logan's summance with a sleeping Kohan on his hip. He seemed even more disheveled of late, like he wasn't sleeping at all. Logan had chalked that up to him having to take care of a child, but he was aware Virgil may be having an emotional response to the "haunting" that was happening in their house and the disappearance of Roman.

"What?" He asked, clearly in a bad mood.

"This," Logan gestured to the wall before them. "A child clearly did this." There was paint on the floor and on the wall in patterns that looked like finger paint. And there were smudges in the doorway and hallway in the shape of small fingers and hands.

"Well, it must've been the ghost." Virgil snapped. "Kohan didn't do it, he slept the whole night through." Logan put his hands on his hips.

"I doubt that highly." He said stoically.

"I would know if he was out of bed, I haven't slept at all since I crashed on the couch three days ago." He growled, shifting the little boy's weight so he could hold him in a more comfortable position. Even so, Kohan's eyes flickered open.

"Daddy, what's Mr. Logan mad bout?" He asked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and yawning.

"The ghost drew on the wall, and he's trying to blame you for it." Virgil replied bluntly. The little boy's eyes opened widely.

"I didn daddy! Pomise!" He gasped.

"It's okay, I know you didn't." He said. "I'm gonna make you breakfast and then help him clean it up, okay?" He asked, feeling his worry in his gut.

"Kay daddy." He replied sleepily, snuggling closer to him. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"You rarely ever offer to clean up a mess you didn't make." He said. "In fact, I don't think you've ever agreed to it."

"What, you think I did it now?" Virgil snapped.

"No, the hand and finger prints are much too small." Logan replied. "I'm merely wondering about the change in attitude." Virgil shrugged.

"I'm trying to set an example for the little guy I guess?" He said.

"Logan, kiddo, can you help me with something please?" Patton asked.

"Yes of course, Patton, what do you need?" Logan asked, raising his eyebrow.

"There's a stuffed animal stuck on the ceiling fan that Kohan was trying to reach, and I can't get it down. I figured since you have your telekinesis thing you might be able to help." He answered.

"Of course, Patton." Logan stood, closing his book. He frowned though. "Which ceiling fan?"

"The one in the kitchen." He replied, leading Logan toward it. Virgil looked up, taking one side of his head phones off. Kohan was sitting on one of his knees watching a TV show with white earbuds in.

"What's going on?" Virgil asked.

"Logan's going to get Kohan's stuffed dragon down from the ceiling fan in the kitchen." Patton replied with a small smile.

"Is that where it is?" Virgil's brow furrowed. "How did it get up there?"

"Maybe it was the ghost?" Patton offered. Logan realized something was off immediately. If Virgil didn't know it was there, how could Kohan being trying to get at it? He never left Virgil's side for a second since Wisdom showed up for the light conference.

"Patton?" Logan said uncertainly. "Why are you lying to us?" Patton's eyes widened with innocence and shock.

"I'd never!" He gasped. "You're my best bud Logan, and Virgil's my dark son. I love you guys, I'd never lie to you." Logan raised an eyebrow and Virgil frowned. "And in anyways, I don't think I can lie at all." Patton added.

"You lied when you felt sad." Logan pointed out.

"Ohp! Yeup I did, scratch that then." He laughed a bit.

"Patton? What's going on?" Logan demanded. Patton huffed a deep sigh.

"The truth is, I was trying to get you out of the room so I could talk to you about something private without embarrassing you."

"I don't get embarrassed, Patton." Logan said cooly, raising an eyebrow at him.

"So the amount of times you've been embarrassed is infinitesimal, right Logan?" Virgil poked slyly.

"Seriously? Again with this? It was one time!" Logan huffed. He stopped his complaint when Patton's hand suddenly grasped his wrist. He looked up at Patton's face and watched his eyes fill with fear and nervousness. Virgil shifted beside them, likely due to Patton's emotional state.

"This is really important, Lo." He whispered. His voice quivered with fear and tears flooded his eyes. Patton was never one to clearly project negative emotions, even if he wasn't purposefully hiding them anymore. Clearly this was important. If Patton didn't want to say anything in front of Virgil, it may be about Roman or a dark side. Or if Patton was trying to avoid saying anything in front of Kohan, any number of things could be in play.

"Very well Patton, I will acco-"

"Logan, I don't think you should. Don't go off alone with him." Virgil cut across him.

"Virgil this is Patton we're talking about." Logan replied, rolling his eyes.

"I don't think it is." Virgil stares suspiciously at the side behind him.

"Don't be ridiculous. There's nothing bad that could come of stepping into the next room." He said, irritatedly.

"Tell that to Roman. Oh wait, that's right, no one knows where he is." Virgil snapped. Kohan looked from him to Logan in worry.

"What happened with Roman was a freak accident. It's sad and worrisome, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen to me. You're just being par-" Virgil's expression made him rethink his wording. "Expressing an unhealthy amount of concern. Thank you for being on guard, but right now, it isn't necessary." He finished softly.

"Logan," He stood, holding Kohan on his hip. "Please stay here." He was pleading now. Virgil never sounded like that. For a split second, Logan doubted himself, then he made up his mind.

"I'll only be a moment, it'll be fine." He said quietly, starting to take a step forward. Kohan, however, did not seem to like the situation and began to cry. Virgil was attempting to console him, but Kohan wouldn't explain his predicament.

"Patton, do you know why he's crying?" Logan sighed. Patton stepped toward the distraught child, but as he did, Kohan started to scream, and Virgil backed away a few steps. The door to the hall swung open and someone stepped in… it was Patton. His hair was tousled and his face shone with worry. Allarmed, Logan looked up to the side he originally mistook for Patton. He was staring into the twisted, gnarled face of a creature like none other. Dry, rough skin that looked like bark warped in unnatural directions with two, lopsided holes where small, red eyes were perched. Teeth like chipped shells or bits of bone were jetting over it's bottom lip. He attempted to pull his hand out of its grasp but found that vine-like tentacles were wrapped around it instead of fingers.

"Logan!" He heard Patton's voice calling out to him while the beast dragged him toward the kitchen entryway. The door to the kitchen opened. There were massive spider webs covering corners from ceiling to floor. Blood and some sort of slime dripped down the walls and pooled on the floor. Where the sink usually was, was a giant, gaping hole.

"Logan, teach, wake up!" Patton cried again. Wake up? He was awake. Clearly he was because he could feel the thorns digging into his skin. And all of a sudden, he became aware that he couldn't feel them. There were no thorns, no kitchen of horrors, no creature. He awoke with a start, looking up into Patton's worried face.

"Oh thank goodness, I was so worried you wouldn't wake up." He sighed.

"What happened?" Logan inquired. He never fell asleep in the middle of the day. Ever. Patton only pointed toward the other side of the room. There was nothing there. He was holding onto Kohan, who was struggling to get out of his arms, and was attempting to scramble toward the kitchen door with teary eyes. "What's happening?" He demanded again.

"Virge asked me to hold Kohan for a second and said he heard something. He went into the kitchen, and then he screamed and the door slammed shut and I don't know what to do. I don't want Kohan to get in there but Virge could be hurt, and then you started shaking like you were having a seizure or something and you scared me so badly. Lo, what are we supposed to do?" Patton sobbed, holding Kohan tighter. Logan sprang to his feet and was at the kitchen door in two strides. He was reaching for the handle when something occurred to him. He'd been in nearly the exact same position as he was now in his dream when Virgil begged him not to follow "Patton" into the kitchen. That was perfectly within character for him. Going into said room alone and unarmed to check out a strange noise was not. Something didn't add up. He stepped away from the door and turned to face Patton again, but now they were nose to nose.

"Aren't you going to go in and check on him for me?" Patton asked. His voice didn't sound right. Kohan was still struggling to get out of his arms, but Logan, now not in shock from the dream and his unceremonious awakening, noticed that Patton was covering his mouth with one hand.

"Patton, let go of him, I don't think he can breathe properly." He said.

"He's fine." Patton snapped, tightening his hold on the struggling child. Something was definitely not right here. Logan reached out to pry Patton's hand away from Kohan. When their hands met, a seeping, cold sensation swept through his entire body, and his vision went entirely grey. Not only that, but everything seemed to be flipped upside down. He looked up at Patton, almost half expecting the creature of his nightmare, but instead was met with the visage of something… someone far worse.

"You son of a-"

"Kohan!" Where the heck could that kid be? He left him alone for hardly a moment and he all but disappeared. Virgil's breath started to come in quick, shallow gasps. He didn't even attempt to deepen them while he searched Thomas's mind for the small child.

"Panda!" He heard the little voice coming from somewhere near his hall. Finally, a deep sigh punctured his short, gasping breaths. "Panda! Daddy!" He started to run toward Kohan's voice, sure that whatever was scaring him so badly must be about to kill him. Someone caught him by the arm. It was Logan. His hair was sticking up in all directions and his glasses were askew. He was holding Kohan.

"Take him and go." He commanded him. "There's something in your hall that shouldn't be."

"What are you talking about?" Virgil demanded, holding the shaking child close to his chest.

"Just go, I'll explain when I see you next. Get out into the physical world, I don't think it can follow us there. I'll lead it off." With that he was gone down one of the numerous corridors of the labyrinth-like Anxiety Hall. Virgil had little choice but to head his instructions, and he ran toward where he was sure the main part of the mind palace was. The only problem was, in his panic to find Kohan again, he didn't pay attention to where he was going, and even to him all the walls looked the same. He broke out of his hall, only to find him in Deciet's. He set off again trying to figure out where in Deceit Hall he was, but his corridors we're even more confusing, because they changed specifically to entrap someone within their walls. Fortunately, Virgil was used to their tricks. He knew that so long as his luck held, he'd just have to run in a straight line and not look back or to either of his sides. He broke out of Deciet's hall and found himself in the court room Deceit had created for a video a while back. He skidded to a stop, throwing open one of the doors, wondering where he could possibly be. His stomach dropped. Beyond the door was… nothing. A deep, cavernous darkness, and a feeling of all consuming dread. He slammed it shut again, turning around and taking some time to calm himself.

"Panda, we lost?" Kohan whimpered.

"Yeah." He replied bluntly. The child gave a little cry of fright and his face in his hoodie. "Wait no, we're fine." He said, suddenly remembering a key detail he had overlooked. He mentally cursed at himself. He sunk out of the court room once, why wouldn't he be able to do it again? He appeared quickly in the physical world, on the couch next to Thomas.

"What's going o-" Before Thomas could even finish, Virgil cut across him.

"There's something wrong with Logan." He said.

"What?" Patton, who apparently was sitting on the other side of the couch, dropped his thankfully empty mug of whatever he'd been drinking and jumped to his feet. "What's wrong with him? Is he okay? Where is he?"

"I don't know where he is." Virgil replied. "He was somewhere in my hall when I last saw him, and he took off in the direction of the dark domain's meeting hall."

"Why was he there?" Thomas asked.

"I don't know!" Virgil replied shrilly.

"I do!" An overly obnoxious voice declared in an off-putting mix between excitedly and reagally.

"You have got to be kidding me." Virgil groaned.


	22. A Dukey Problem

Chapter Five

A Dukey Problem

A/N: Me: Do you like the chapter name?

Cousin: No.

Me: What? Why?

Cousin: I hate everything.

"Oh my gosh, why are you here?" Thomas demanded.

"Because Logan's dead!" There stood the Duke in all of his malevolent gory, demented smile stretched wide beneath his far too fake mustache.

"Logan's dead?" Thomas repeated shrilly.

"You killed him!" Patton shrieked.

"What did you do with him?" Virgil demanded.

"Me?" Remus asked, feigning indignation. At all of their disbelieving looks, he amended, "Okay, yes I've attacked one of you before, but this time. This time I didn't."

"Right." Virgil snapped moodily.

"You know what would be funny-" Remus began

"No!" They all said at once.

"Okay, I'll tell you." He said gleefully, smiling widely.

"Oh great, here we go." Virgil mumbled.

"If the ghost was kidnapping sides in order to use our souls to fuel a death machine that's going to start the zombie apocalypse and everyone in the entire world died because we weren't strong enough to fight off one ghost." Patton squeaked and Thomas covered his ears.

"Oh my god we're all going to die!" He yelled. Kohan whimpered and started to tear up.

"Oh great, look what you did." Virgil snarled at him, attempting to soothe the boy in his arms.

"Here's an idea, let's sacrifice him to the ghost." Remus suggested. Kohan began to cry.

"Oh my god!" Virgil shifted Kohan's weight in his arms.

"What the heck Dukey?" Thomas yelled.

"Don't cry, Kohan." Patton said gently. "We won't let anyone hurt you. We'll protect you."

"You didn protecc Pincy." He pointed out tearfully. It felt as though someone had shoved an ice pick straight through Patton's heart.

"That- that was different kiddo." Patton stuttered, trying to soothe him.

"Was it really though?" Remus asked. "I mean like, you tried to protect him and he's dead now so… Kohan's going to get sacrificed to a demon." He squealed delightedly, clapping his hands. "I'll go get my special sacrificing knife."

"Lay a finger on him and you're going to find your sacrificing knife shoved up your butt." Virgil growled Kohan sniffed, covering his ears at the tone and burying his nose in the crook of Virgil's neck.

"Been there, done that. But your more than welcome to give it a go, Virge." Remus wiggled his shoulders suggestively.

"I think you need to leave." Patton said firmly.

"I think you need to prove you're the king." Remus countered, examining the nails of his left hand and swinging his mace up over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, what?" Thomas tipped his head to one side. "Of course Patton's the king."

"Really? Because last I checked, Innocence had the crown way back when and, well, the other light sides might believe you but I don- oh, hi Deceit." The duke waved cheerily at a corner of the room behind Thomas. Deceit looked up from the old-looking, black and white newspaper he was reading and chuckled his slow dark chuckle.

"You aren't in any way an embarrassment to the dark sides, my friend." He smirked. Remus, who now had his finger stuck up his nose, froze for a minute.

"What?" He asked after a second.

"Begone." Deceit scowled, making a shooing motion with his hand. Remus merely stood there, doing his stupid forbidden boi dance. "Remus, I in no way have orders from-" Before his sentence could be finished, Remus was gone. "I assume he won't be back." Judaes sighed, popping his knuckles out in front of himself.

"Why are you-" Before Virgil could finish his question, Kohan had began scrambling out of his arms.

"You're back!" He cried in a delighted voice. His little arms were suddenly slung around the snake side's waist. Deceit's face immediately registered confusion.

"Awe." Patton sighed. Virgil swooped in immediately, whisking Kohan away from the deceitful side.

"Kohan, don't do that." Virgil warned him, holding him close. "He's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Judaes repeated mockingly. "I thought you weren't afraid of me Virgil."

"Shut it." Virgil growled. "What are you doing here and why did he try to pretend that Patton wasn't king?" He demanded.

"Where's the crown, Virgil?" Is all that Judaes said in response.

"What crown?" Patton asked politely.

"Did you ever think the dark one's crown was oddly designed?" He asked smoothly. "Maybe that it was strange that it glowed like it does?"

"His crown glows?" Thomas asked. Deceit blinked twice.

"Yes." He said exasperatedly.

"So it doesn't glow?" Virgil asked.

"I just said it did glow." Deceit said.

"But Deceit can only lie." Patton pointed out. The snake side sighed, annoyed, and transformed before their very eyes into the visage of Winston.

"What's all this about, Wisdom?" Virgil bit out savagely.

"I'm just going to give it to you straight, Virgil." Wisdom said tiredly.

"No, me first." Remus rose up behind him.

"I wasn't joking when I said I had my orders. Begone, thought." Winston waved him away. Virgil attempted to stifle his laughter with his fist while still holding Kohan with his other arm. Remus smiled.

"Spelled T-h-o-t or T-h-o-u-g-h-t?"" He replied. Winston fixed him with a cold glare that made Virgil's threatening glances look welcoming. He shrugged. "I'll be back." He said nonchalantly, he sunk out once more.

"What did you need to tell us so badly that you had to pretend to be Deceit to do it?"

I have really bad writer's block as I'm sure you could tell so enjoy this little tension builder and the fact that you don't get to know anything more about Winston for this chapter

Roman felt his head collide with the floor and heard the sickening, tell-tale crunch of cracking bone. Hot, sticky, something dripped down the back of his neck. He was going to die. He knew it. But… for some reason… he was okay with it. Maybe if took Virgil's place as the sacrifice, Virgil's fight or flight would take over and he would join them. It wasn't an ideal situation, but at least that way he would live. But the thought of Virgil having to live that way… The thought of him submitting… of losing the color he'd gained. Roman couldn't bear it.


	23. Nightmares

Chapter Six

Nightmares Pt.1

The Mirrors

A/N

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting recently, the truth of the matter is, I had absolutely no way to connect the next major event to the last one. And having Roman figuratively yeet himself out a window into the abyss made me realize that that's what I should write about for this chapter. So sorry for the short and annoying one last time, hopefully I can make up for it with this chapter where I introduce way too many OCs, a change in scenery, and bust out another confusing twist that doesn't even fully make sense to me at the moment. Bear with me for a bit yeah? Love and affection to all of you.

P.S Flint and Lev were created by ReadingAnimeLover, two of her other OCs will make an appearance in this story and they're actually really important which is something I just decided just now, so… that will be fun… yeah?

Thomas was a metaphorical train wreck. Patton, in a last-ditch effort to try and help, told Thomas to call Joan and Virgil tried his best not to be too agitated by it. Without Roman balancing him out and Logic holding him down, he was having a lot of trouble controlling himself. There was no one to calm him of his fears, nor anyone to convince him they were founded in the wildest reaches of fantasy, and that meant his thoughts were everywhere, and felt much more realistic. He even accidentally blurted out that he thought Joan may be plotting their death based on a single text Thomas received during dinner. He did, however, attempt to ease up when Thomas called them. They told Thomas that if he was having trouble thinking and he was suffering from a total creative block that he might try to go get some fresh air out of town. Virgil immediately panicked and caused Thomas to politely say goodbye and hang up immediately. Patton, however, agreed with them and two days later found them in the front passenger seat of their friend's car heading to a small town to stay in her, to her description, exceedingly eccentric house. Virgil was not pleased, and the farther away from home they got, the more restless he became. The friend they were staying with was named Anya Harbinger, and she lived in a very large, very old house ten miles from the boundary of a very small town called Korowai. Virgil did not want to be that far away from emergency services like the police or EMTs, but accepted it as possibly necessary in order to regain Roman and Logan. Virgil would do anything to get them back to the light domain, even if that meant he had to rejoin the dark sides to do it, so going out of town was no big deal in his opinion. That didn't mean he had to like it. Anya tried to engage Thomas in small talk at the beginning of the ride, but Thomas found he was having trouble paying attention or finding anything to say, so the conversation turned to Anya's house and town and Thomas did his best to listen out of respect for his long-time friend.

-5 Days until Halloween-

"There's a very large cornfield behind my house that I tried to turn into a complex corn maze one year. Didn't work out so well." Here she chuckled a bit. "I also have a large pasture I built that I keep my two horses, three cows, and my little goat in." Thomas perked up slightly at the mention of the animals, a fact that- it seemed- did not go unnoticed by Anya. "There are blackberry bushes taller than me that quail like to hide in around there. If you're quiet enough, sometimes you'll see them hop in and out of the bushes to peck at the seeds and teeny nuts I set out for them." Thomas smiled slightly at the mention of the small birds, he'd always wanted to hold one, maybe he would this week. "There are loads of small animals that come out to the pond. Oh right, I forgot to mention, there's a marshy-bog-forest thing past the pasture and a pond between them. There's mice and squirrels, deer, raccoons, stuff like that. You might even find lizards or a wild turkey, I think I've seen one of them before, at least. Oh yeah, I have a few outdoor cats, I know you're allergic but since they live almost exclusively outside it should be fine. You aren't allergic to dogs though, right? I have a puppy that lives inside. He loves people. Maybe you and I could take him on a walk down one of the more solid trails." By this point, Thomas was already feeling better about his decision. Maybe this trip would do him some good after all.

"Sounds nice." Thomas said honestly. Anya smiled at him.

"Glad to hear." She looked back toward the road and they drove for awhile in companionable silence. After awhile, she frowned, and slowed the car. "What in the actual heck is that?" Thomas, too, looked out the windshield, and felt as though a shock travelled through his entire body. Surely he was imagining things. He was hallucinating because he hadn't been sleeping well. There was absolutely no way that Lucius, his greed side, was lounging on a parked motorcycle on a nearly deserted road mere feet away from where the car finally rolled to a stop. But Anya was rolling down the window, yelling at him to get out of the road and honking her horn a few times. To Thomas's and- evidently- Virgil's horror, Lucius walked up to the car, and leaned toward her window. She pulled herself back in very quickly.

"Forgive me, miss, I seem to be having a bit of trouble with my motor vehicle, you wouldn't mind helping me out would you?" Lucius drawled slowly, a type of charm that felt deadly to Thomas taking over his voice. In that instance, it felt as if Patton too had abandoned him, and all of his senses and actions were dictated by Virgil.

"I'm sorry, we can't help you." He said quickly. "I'll call you a tow truck, but we have to go it's kind of an emergency." He had no clue what Lucius could be planning, but whatever it was couldn't be good. Lucius frowned and straightened up.

"Very well, sir." He said coldly, stepping away.

"Is there another road we can take?" Thomas asked Anya.

"Uhmm, yeah." She responded slowly. She rolled her window back up and began to reverse the car. Lucius stood still and stiff in the same spot, eyes following the car as they backed away and turned the corner. Thomas looked into the mirror outside his window, only to see that Lucius was standing behind the car again. A thrill of fear shot through him, and he turned to face the front. "Thomas, are you in trouble or something?" Anya asked nervously.

"I think I might be." Thomas answered truthfully.

"Why did that guy look so much like you? I've met both of your brothers and he is not one of them." She bit her lip and looked anxiously into the trees lining the canopy road they currently drove on.

"You're right about that." Thomas agreed.

"What was with the crown and horns?" She asked.

"I don't know." Thomas admitted.

"Oh my god, how is he doing that?" Anya demanded, speeding up. Thomas looked into the mirror again and there was Lucius standing stalk still. They quickly left him behind and he faced forward again, breathing hard.

"Something really weird is going on and Thomas, I need you to be real with me for a moment." Anya said harshly. Thomas nodded, swallowing and looking back into the mirror. Lucius was there once again. "Have you been messing around with ouija boards or seances recently?"

"No." Thomas shook his head.

"Have you bought anything old at a garage sale or an antique store?" She continued.

"No." He replied.

"Okay, maybe I should have opened with this one. Did you ever have imaginary friends when you were little?" Anya asked. "Maybe ones that seemed very real and were never around when other people were?" Thomas hesitated. Were the sides considered imaginary friends? He thought they were imaginary until recently, and that seemed to be what Anya was getting at.

"I know what's happening." Thomas finally admitted. "It's never been a problem before and I didn't think anyone would believe me."

"Hold that thought Thomas, I'm going to want specifics and it won't be safe to talk about it until we're over the salt line." she said quickly.

"Salt line?" Thomas repeated.

"Salt line." Anya verified. She slammed on the gas and Thomas gripped the dashboard and the handle of the door in surprise. Trees and rocks were blurring together as one with the speed of the car and Thomas began praying that they wouldn't run into another car until she slowed down considerably. Mere moments later they came to a thick, white line on the road. Anya decreased her speed and when they passed the line she stopped completely and put the car into park. Thomas looked into the mirror again and found that Lucius was still there, but he was standing at the very edge of the white line, looking angry. "We call that line the salt line. It's the boundary that separates the land between the territory of the government and our territory that we own personally."

"What do you mean?" Thomas asked, confused. "Who's we?"

"The town of Korowai is separate from the U.S government, it's like how native tribal lands have their own rules and laws and police. We chose to mark our border. People thought it was a mark of alienating ourselves from the outside world, but what we were trying to cut off was the creatures. I never really believed the stories until now. The border is called the salt line because it's built to keep malicious, non-human entities on the other side." Anya explained to him. It may have been the absence of Logan, but Thomas believed every word she said.

"So he can't get through?" He asked, looking back to the line. Lucius wasn't there any longer, but something was. Thomas hadn't the slightest clue what it was, what it even looked like, but he somehow knew it was there. Something was there. Maybe it was just Virgil being vague again, but somehow, this time, it felt different. Much different.

"Almost." She said, glancing around. "They can't come in unless invited in. Thomas, explain what's happening with you right now. Please."

"Yeah…" Thomas began slowly. Remy leaned forward and nodded toward the back seat, upon which, apparently, he was sitting. Logan. sat on the left of him, Roman- who for some reason was wearing a lot less color than Thomas had remembered- on the right. All of them were enveloped in a faint white glow.

"Wake up Thomas," Logan said. "You have to wake up right now."

"Don't forget what you just saw babes." Remy said. "You might need it later." He winked and clicked his tongue and they sunk out, Roman stayed behind. He smiled widely, the kind of smile that he had been forced to smile when Kohan was trying to "help" him. Thomas's eyes flew open and he found himself still in Anya's car, being gently shaken awake.

"Come on Thomas, we're here." She said softly.

"Oh, thanks." He mumbled, embarrassed.

"Sure thing buddy. I know you haven't been feeling real well, so let's just get you up to your room, okay?" She said gently, her tones reminding Thomas of Patton in a simpler time before he had even known the dark sides existed. When it was just the five of them. When Roman and Logan were still with them. Thomas nodded, slowly getting out of the car and retrieving his bag from the trunk. He nearly pitched forward into the grass at what he saw out of the corner of his eye. Faces. Four of them. In the cornfield that wrapped around the side of his friend's house. He looked again, but they were gone. He tried to ignore the small voice nagging at him- that sounded suspiciously like Virgil's- reminding him of the movie The Children of the Corn.

"Thomas are you okay?" He nearly jumped a mile when Anya's had touched his shoulder.

"Tell her, Sanders!" That voice too belonged to Virgil, and this time it was as clear as day.

"Are there any kids around here?" He asked uncertainly, looking back to the cornfield.

"Just Flint and Lev." She responded. "But they live a few miles away, sometimes they stumble into the maze while they're exploring. They won't give you any trouble, they're sweet kids." She smiled.

"Just… just two then?" He repeated anxiously.

"That I've met yeah." Her brow furrowed. "Why, was someone over there?"

"Yeah- I mean maybe. I don't know. I thought I saw someone. Maybe I was wrong." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Let's get you upstairs Thomas." She said worriedly. "I think you need some more sleep."

"Yeah okay." Thomas agreed, following behind her. The inside of her house was large and spacious, but Thomas could hardly take in more than that. He was exhausted but he was sure he wasn't going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon. Anya showed him to a room on the third floor that looked uncannily like Gryffindor dormitories from the Harry Potter movies with a small bathroom directly adjacent to it, the door open ever so slightly.

"I thought you might like the atmosphere of this one. It seems kinda Harry Potterish to me." She smiled a bit. "It was actually mostly like this when I moved in, so I just had to put the red comforters in here." Thomas smiled too, but he knew it probably didn't reach his eyes.

"It's great," He said honestly. "Thank you so much."

"Anything I can do to help you out Thomas?" She asked.

"No, thank you though." He replied.

"Okay, try to get some rest though." She closed the door and Thomas collapsed on the bed, not even taking his shoes off. Though he felt as though Virgil would have kept him up, he was asleep within seconds of closing his eyes and he found himself standing in a wide, open room that was made entirely of black and white checkered squares. In front of him were two, large, ornate mirrors with cracks along the frames. One frame was spiky looking, purple, orange, green and black. The other was dainty like it was spun glass and looked like pastel green vines with flowers in two shades of blue, red, and purple. Looking in to them, he didn't see his face, he saw Roman. At least in one of the he saw Roman. The lighter one framed a face very similar to his just slightly more chiseled and with a noble, brave expression. Roman in the light mirror was looking off into the distance and seemed to be posing in a victorious position, with one hand on his hip, a sword gripped in his other hand, and his knee bent as his right foot seemed to be propped up on something barely out of sight. Behind him, was a small dirt path lined with cherry blossom trees, the delicate petals showering down upon him, a sunset on the horizon. In the darker colored mirror, Thomas saw Remus, facing him but looking to the side. One hand was fiddling with the tip of his mustache, his other was on the handle of the mace slung over his shoulder. His smile was stretched wide, per usual, toothy, and, unfortunately, only one of the creepiest Thomas had seen. A manic gleam had taken over his eyes, which were pointed in the direction of Roman's mirror, but looking up toward the ceiling. Behind him was deep darkness in which only the occasional gnarled tree branch or thicket of thorns was visible. Thomas turned to face the left. There were two different mirrors here. One had a frame of white, wispy something that looked like clouds, and in this mirror was Caesar. He was smiling softly, his eyes closed and arms outspread. His head was hung slightly and his hair looked to be standing up almost, as though he were falling or floating in invisible water. In one hand, he held a tall, white staff with a golden ring around a purple crystal stop it, perched upon his other hand was a small, white dove. Behind him was a vast expanse of blue sky and clouds and the top of a tower could be seen in the distance. A flurry of dove feathers cascaded around him, almost like snow. The mirror next to it was grey, cracked, falling apart. Even the image was grey scale. It was of Thomas's living room, but it was upside down. Roman, however, was right side up, and he was standing underneath the coffee table, wearing an expression so blank it made Logan's occasional raised eyebrow look like a wild and out of control temper tantrum. He had a long rope in one hand, and in the other, some sort of small blade. Turning, again to his left, Thomas saw a small door that lead into a hall made of the same black and white checkered tiles. Four children stood there, two with their backs turned to him. One of the boys facing him had Chestnut colored, neatly combed hair and eyes almost dark enough to be black. He was wearing a white collared shirt and a blue and white sweater vest. His face was arranged into a small, reserved smile. He had narrow rectangle glasses that were colored a sensible black and was carrying a journal with a small, laminated label in the top left corner reading: Flint. The second boy was a bit shorter than the other, and had light brown, messy hair. His eyes were large and glittered with excitement. He had on blue jeans with a small green patch in the shape of a tree on them and a green flannel with a little white heart stitched into the pocket. There was a camera in his hand, held in front of his chest with the name Lev scrawled across the side. He was smiling brightly and his arm was raised as though he were waving. Thomas turned to his left again and saw another doorway. This one lead down a hall shrouded in darkness. Thomas thought he had felt fear before, but the feeling radiating from the door proved him wrong. There were three boards nailed across the entrance. There was evidence to suggest that there had been four, however the one that must have been there before was laying on the ground in two pieces. No less than six grey arms were reaching out of the darkened passage, grasping at the planks, attempting to pry them off the wall. He turned to face the white and grey mirrors. The white was empty. The sky within it had turned red and the clouds black. The tower off in the background seemed to be crumbling apart. They grey mirror, however, was full of faces, to the point where Thomas almost couldn't see the background. Roman, Patton, Virgil, Logan, Remus, Judaes, Lucius, Nate. and Caesar were all standing shoulder to shoulder in three lines of three with identical expressionless faces and cold, dead eyes. Thomas turned to face the first two mirrors. This time, both frames were cracked and breaking, and the one that had previously held Roman was empty. The cherry blossom trees bare and wilting. Remus was missing from the darker mirror now. Instead, there was a side Thomas didn't recognize. He had black and grey eyeshadow that looked like it was dripping down his cheeks. He was wearing an outfit of black, grey, purple, and green that looked like a Greek or Roman tyrant. He was smiling widely, and was looking down at where his feet would have been. Both of his arms were raised slightly above his head, and were full of two, large marionette string controls. The scariest part, however, was that he was wearing two crowns upon his head, one inside the other and Thomas recognized the one on the outside as Lucius's. The reflection in the mirror looked up at him. Thomas stepped closer.

"I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them." The reflection whispered. "Thomas reached out toward the mirror and put his hand on the frame. "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad." He locked eyes with the reflection and put his hand upon the glass. "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." Everything went black.

"I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and that was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys to heaven and hell."


	24. Recolections and Reflections

Chapter Seven

Recollections and Reflections

A/N This chapter was supposed to be published before Halloween.

Did that Happen? Of course not.

I apologize.

-1 Days until Halloween-

He was running down a hallway, his breath coming in quick, sharp, painful gasps, but he had to get through, he shouldn't linger here and he knew that. The walls, ceiling, and floor were moving and shifting steadily, in, out, in, out, in, out; a steady rhythm, as though it were breathing. They were coated in a strange, clear, viscous sort of liquid that made it difficult to remain upright as he ran. He could not stay here. He slammed his shoulder into the door at the end of the hall, causing it to crash open.

"Mother f-"

Virgil huffed a deep sigh. Anya's house was one that had quite a lot of fuel for him to go off of. On the outside it looked like it was only an oversized farmhouse, but the inside of it was like a dusty old mansion with chandeliers and candelabras and winding spiral staircases and ornate murals on the ceilings. Doors were light and squeaky and the place was drafty, so a door could creak open at any time. The floorboards wailed under pressure and most rooms were badly lit, so shadows were more than abondant. Usually, Virgil would be having a lot of fun keeping Thomas up with racing thoughts, but at the moment, Virgil couldn't bring himself to care to. Currently, Thomas was with Anya by the black berry bushes trying to coax a quail into his hand, Patton was with the horses, cows, and goats, petting them and getting to know them, Kohan was sleeping in Virgil's heavily locked down room, and Virgil was wandering through the marsh trying to find a good spot to listen to music and chill. He had found some pretty good, sturdy trees that seemed they would make a good spot for a hammock, a treehouse that needed a few repairs, and a very large tree with a huge hole in the middle. The first two seemed dangerous and Virgil assumed that there were probably squirrels or owls in the large hole in the tree, so he kept on. It wasn't until he came across a fork in the trail that he saw something interesting. There was a make-shift road sign that reminded Virgil of something Roman and Logan had done when they were all little.

Virgil had always wanted to be able to play with Logan and Roman, it seemed so fun, but he was always too scared to ask. They were six gosh dangit, the only thing he should be worried about is how much time he had to play with his friends, he definitely shouldn't be worried over whether or not they would want to play with him, but there he was watching them play instead of joining. Patton was building a sandcastle over in the sand box, Virgil always wanted to play with him too, but he couldn't ask, especially because his best friend was Judas. Judas didn't like it when he played with someone else. Roman and Logan were playing adventure like they always did. Roman had his wooden sword and Logan had a huge book (Probably a whole 200 pages) that Virgil was pretty sure he couldn't read and a rolled up piece of paper with drawings on it.

"We should mark this trail so we don't get lost." Roman said, in the process of tying two sticks together. He stuck them in the dirt, but it fell apart.

"We can't get lost." Logan shook his head exasperatedly. "We're in the backyard."

"Pretend, Logan." Roman sighed.

"But we have a map." Logan pointed out, tying them together and sticking them upright in the Earth so they wouldn't fall. Virgil covered his mouth so they wouldn't hear him giggle.

"But what if we go off the trail and don't know where we are on the map?" Roman said, pointing his sword towards Patton in the sand box.

"We just won't go off the trail." Logan shrugged.

"But what if something chases us, like a bear!" Roman made a growling noise and put his arms up.

"There are no bears in the backyard." Logan said, confused.

"Pretend, Logan!" Roman sighed again. Virgil giggled again, and darted back behind the wall so they wouldn't see him.

Virgil physically bit back tears. He would not lose a hold on himself. Not now. Not when Patton and Thomas had much bigger things to deal with. He knew they'd feel obligated to run to his aid. He sat down in front of the little sign and put his head in his hands. He took a few deep breaths and steadied himself.

"Hey mister, are you okay?" Virgil's head shot up and he looked around wildly. There was a little kid standing a few feet away from him. Two of them actually.

"Reese, we're not supposed to talk to strangers." The one that had spoken reminded Virgil a bit of Logan with dark, neatly combed hair and black, rectangular glasses. Not to mention he carried a general air of holier than thou even though he appeared to only be eleven or twelve. The other child, Reese presumably, scowled. He was dressed in a white T-shirt and had a red coat tied around his shoulders like a cape.

"Sorry about him." Reese said to Virgil. "He worries too much."

"And you worry too little." The boy in the glasses hissed, grabbing the other boys arm.

"He's right you know." Virgil mumbled solemnly, looking at the ground.

"Waddya mean?" Reese said. It had appeared he'd startled the other child enough to make him stop pulling on his friend's arm.

"You want to hear a story?" He offered picking up a small stone and flicking it into a small marshy spot a few feet over his shoulder.

"Come on Flint." Reese urged him. "It's like the wise old hermit in your story."

"That's ridiculous." The other little boy replied, but he sat down on a short stump, giving Virgil his attention anyway. Reese hoisted himself up onto a large, thick branch that hung to just below his shoulder.

"I had friends like you once." Virgil said, not entirely sure why he was talking to these children at all. Let alone about anything like this. "Roman was a lot like you Reese." Reese's eyes widened, and Virgil had to stop himself from smirking. Children are so gullible. "He was a dreamer, you know. Always ready for a grand adventure." The other boy- Virgil was pretty sure he had been called Flint- widened his eyes too. "Logan was a genius, liked to pretend he didn't make mistakes or get scared." Flint's jaw visibly clenched and he sat up impossibly straighter. "Yeah, they were a lot like you." Virgil nodded to himself.

"Were?" Flint echoed. "What happened to them?" Virgil flinched slightly, purely for dramatic effect, noting he was acting just a bit like his missing prince- the missing prince, not his.

"They took things too far." He said quietly, fishing around for something he could say about their disappearance to make it more twelve-year-old friendly. "Logan and Roman were always at each other's throats ever since highschool. They could never quite agree on anything. Logan always wanted to be smarter, more mature, more serious, and Roman lived for fun, for his friends, for love and honor. The older we all got, the more and more they fought, and finally… finally they decided they were better off on their own. Logan was whisked away to a fancy college to become a scientist at the Smithsonian and Roman disappeared on a journey to save his very best friends-" Here Virgil felt Judas's presence lift and paused briefly in confusion. He looked up at the two boys listening to his story. Their eyes were wide and shocked. Unsure of why, Virgil took a breath and continued. "No one has heard from them since they left. And things will never be quite the same." Flint looked down at the leather bag slung over his shoulder taking a small but thick book. He shared a meaningful look with his young friend, and then looked back down at the book. Reese hopped down from the tree branch and drew himself up, one arm crossed over his chest and the other pointing away from his body. It reminded Virgil forcefully of Princy.

"Something, sir, tells me that everything is going to be okay with them." He said slowly and dramatically as though he were in an amatuer play. Flint rolled his eyes but stood as well, tilting his chin up ever so slightly.

"You remind me of a man." He said in a voice that sounded like Logan's whenever he quoted some famous philosopher or scientist. "A man from a half-remembered dream I had years ago. There is light for you yet on the horizon. Do not fear." Virgil, in spite of himself, smiled and laughed ever so slightly, shaking his head. Remembering that the path behind him had many places that looked like solid ground but were actually knee-deep water, Virgil said to them;

"The only direction worth moving in is forward, but maybe this time you should turn around first." He thought maybe they would think it was funny, or even just a little smart-sounding, but their eye only widened again. The two of them both turned around obediently, and started to walk down the trail they must have come from. At that same second, Virgil felt an insistent tugging in his chest and realized someone was summoning him. Pausing only to brush some dirt off his hoodie, he sunk out, not even thinking about what would happen if the two boys saw him do that. They were young after all, kids make things up.

Patton was sitting on the fence of the horse/cow/goat pasture. A bright smile lit up his face as the little pygmy goat butt his head against Patton's outstretched hand.

"Cutie." He cooed. The goat looked up at him with big, brown eyes and blinked before letting out a long bleat and butting against his hand again. Patton giggled and scratched behind his ears. He sighed, however, after a moment. Not even the presence of a small, adorable, fluffy animal could distract Patton from what was making him sad.

"Lev! Slow down! Who even is that guy?" Patton's head shot up at the sound of a child's scared voice. There were two little kids running toward him, one in a green flannel and patched blue jeans and the other in an oversized black, white, and grey plaid hoodie and black sweats. The little boy in the green flannel skidded to a stop in front of the wooden fencing.

"Hey there, kiddo." Patton said kindly. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, sir!" The little boy said. His friend had stopped a few feet away from them but was shuffling closer. "Are you Thomas Sanders Sir?" The boy in the green flannel had a slight southern accent and a big bright smile. He had a black camera in his hands, decorated with stickers of cats and rainbows. "I'm a really big fan!" Patton smiled at him.

"Yup, sure am Kiddo." At least he kind of was.

"Awesome!" He said brightly. "Are you about to do a video? Why are you dressed like Patton? Did you get a haircut?" Patton laughed.

"I don't think any videos are going to be shot anytime soon." He said honestly. He hated the little disappointed look on the boy's face.

"Why not?" The other boy's voice was very quiet, Patton almost didn't hear him.

"We… uhm… I kinda lost Roman." Patton admitted uncomfortably.

"Oh." The boy in the hoodie didn't seem to understand.

"Oh! I get it! I bet you Reese has all sorts of ideas for you! A lot of your fans probably do, you can always ask you know." Patton beamed at him.

"You know, that's actually a good idea kiddo. What's your name?"

"My name's Lev!" He pulled his friend over by the sleeve of his hoodie. "And this is Beckett," Beckett frowned and tugged his arm away from Lev.

"Didn't I see you earlier?" He asked quietly.

"I don't think so kiddo, I've been here pretty much all day." Patton said honestly.

"Huh. I thought I did." He sounded a little worried and maybe a bit suspicious now. "Would've sworn to it, same glasses and everything." The glasses? Logan was the only side that wore glasses like Patton's. If it was him…

"Where did you see him?" Patton asked. Beckett's expression turned slightly fearful.

"Over by Ring Creek, come on Lev, we need to go now!" He grabbed Lev's arm and dragged him away. He was muttering something about doppelgangers, but Patton was hardly paying attention. He mentally called out to Virgil and Winston, trying to summon them to him. Virgil appeared by his side hardly a second later, but instead of Winston, came Lucius. Patton did not have time to think about it.

"We need to go find the creek!" He said quickly.

"The creek?" Lucius crossed his arms.

"It's important!" Patton maintained. "I think Logan might be around there! A kid said he saw me over there, same glasses and everything, but I never went over there."

"I think I passed it while I was walking around." Virgil said, and Patton could tell he was struggling not to get his hopes up. "Come on." Patton followed Virgil at a trot, and even though he thought Lucius wouldn't come, he trailed just slightly behind. In a matter of seconds, they had made it to the creek. There was no one around. Logan wasn't there.

"Maybe he left already." Patton offered. "The important thing is we know he's around somewhere, we can-"

"Patton," Virgil began. "I think we're going to have to just admit that they're dead" Virgil mumbled, looking down at the ground. "They've been gone without a trace, they aren't even affecting Thomas anymore… they're gone."

"Don't say things like that Virgil." Patton whispered, tears building in his eyes. "They'll be okay." He took a deep breath. "Both of them. Everything is going to be fine." But even as he said this, tears began to spill down his cheeks.

"Fools, you know nothing." Lucius spat, glaring at his shoes. The mirrors aren't rooms that hold sides within, there is no such thing as a dead side, emotions don't die, they only become repressed."

"What do you mean sides can't die?" Virgil demanded. "You and I have both seen it happen." Something like anger flashed behind Lucius's eyes.

"We thought we did, but that side is still alive." He growled. "Unfortunately."

"Don't you dare talk about him like that!" In a second, Lucius was on the ground, Virgil's foot on his chest, pinning him into the grass.

"Virgil, what's happening?" Patton asked, shooting worried glances between them.

"He killed him, and he won't admit it." Virgil growled, but his usual venom was lacking, and his voice wavered as though he were fighting to keep it steady. His foot ground Lucius into the grass harder, but Lucius merely glared an icy glare at Virgil.

"He got what was coming to him, what you saw happened, but he is still ali-" He was cut off by Virgil stomping rather hard on his ribcage.

"Virgil! Stop!" Patton yelled, grasping for his arm, trying to pull him away, to stop him from hurting the dark side any further. Someone was going to get hurt very badly out of this if it didn't stop! Lucius coughed, and hoarsely said,

"Virgil, stop… please."

"What's the matter Lucius? Didn't you just tell me sides can't die?" Virgil sneered, lifting his foot again.

"Virgil, stop!" Patton burst into tears. This was not the Virgil he knew. The Virgil he knew worried over everyone else and was protective. He was the perfect son and just about the best friend you could ask for. He wasn't violent like this. He wasn't scary like this. But just as he finished that thought, he felt strong arms wrap around him and found his face buried in black and purple.

"I'm sorry, Pat." Virgil's voice rumbled against his cheek, and Patton realized his face was pressed against Virgil's chest. Virgil's chin came to rest on his head. "I'm sorry, Dad." He said again. Patton could hear the tears building in his voice and so he returned the hug. After a moment they pulled away, Virgil looking very uncomfortable. Patton turned to help Lucius, but he was already standing again, looking for all the world as if he had nothing happen to him.

"What happened, Virge?" Patton asked, still teary. "Why did you attack him like that."

"He killed him." Virgil mumbled again. "And he's trying to pretend he didn't."

"Killed who?" Patton asked, immediately worried.

"My little brother." Virgil replied darkly. "He killed my little brother, and he won't own up to it." His voice had risen to an angry shout once again. "He's a murderer!"

"Calm yourself, nave." Lucius sneered. "Your brother is still alive."

"I watched you kill him!"

"STOP!" Patton yelled at the both of them. They both turned and blinked at him, shocked. "If his brother isn't dead, what happened?" He demanded of Lucius.

"Instead of dying, a side goes grey." Lucius replied. "He's in the grey domain now, the mirrors are the only way in and out of there. You fools are lucky you thought the mirrors were broken, or you would've been trapped in an upside-down plain of existence entirely in grey scale full of murderous sides who don't even know what they're doing, let alone have the ability to stop themselves."

"You bastard." Virgil snarled. He went to move forward, but Patton put a hand out to stop him.

"Is there anything we can do to fix him?" Patton demanded.

"Even if I knew how, do you think I would tell you? The whelp was in my way, he deserved what he go-" Virgil socked him across the face, but Lucius barely seemed phased.

"Stop talking right now you piece of-" He stopped dead in the middle of his sentence. "Roman… Roman NO!"


	25. Walk Between

Chapter Eight

Walk Between

Roman wasn't entirely sure what to make of the scene before him. The Dark king had somehow upset Virgil to the point of making him react violently and cry. That just wouldn't do. Whatever he had done, Roman would amend and punish the evil king severely for. Perhaps sending him to the grey domain was punishment enough. Depending on what he'd done it may not be. His hand slowly went for the sword at his hip, and he was just about to draw it when he heard Virgil shout No at him. No? Why no? Surely Virgil wanted the king to suffer for whatever crime he had committed. In a flash Virgil was by his side, murmuring,

"No, no, no, no, no." Virgil's hands came up to cup his face. "Roman what happened to you?" He cried.

"I believe he identified himself as your younger brother." Roman replied.

"No!" Virgil stumbled back away from him, but another side caught him before he fell. Roman wasn't entirely sure who that side was, but if he was looking out for Virgil, he supposed he was okay. The side was wearing a blue polo, a grey cardigan, and black glasses. He looked harmless enough.

"You're not supposed to be able to be here." The side wearing the dark crown spat. "You should be trapped in the grey domain." Roman drew his blade and leveled it with the king's chest.

"Perhaps, but Virgil is out here, which means here I am as well." Virgil gasped slightly behind him, and Roman let himself believe it was a pleased one. Virgil was flattered that Roman cared so much of course. "I'm not sure what you've done, or why you think you have the right to do so, but you've hurt Virgil, which means you've picked a fight with me, capiche?" The king sneered at him.

"A noble sentiment for a dead man." Roman moved the tip of his blade to touch the king's throat, who promptly backed away.

"A sharp tongue for a coward." He replied. Virgil shifted behind him. Hopefully he was impressed and not scared.

Virgil felt tears stinging his eyes as he watched Roman threaten Lucius without a single expression. This was what he had asked for, he supposed, Roman was back. But he also wasn't. This wasn't the guy he knew. He'd never met this side before. This side was terrifying. He had Roman's face. Roman's voice. Roman's posture. Roman's hair. But all the color was gone. It was almost as if he was a pencil sketch of him in varying shades of grey and muted black, but the expression was all wrong. The look on his face would make Logan look wild and out of control. There was no light to his eyes. He was dead. He watched in horror, not really hearing Roman's words as he deftly sliced at Lucius's neck, nearly taking his head off. Lucius retreated and Roman sheathed his blade, turning to Virgil once more. He slowly walked forward, his expression not changing in the slightest. He reached out and cupped Virgil's face in his hands. Virgil flinched violently when he felt Roman's hands, but he didn't back away. Roman was back. He should be happy. He shouldn't feel this way. He should be smiling, welcoming him back, telling him he missed him, contemplating whether he should tell him how he truly felt about him, yelling at him for being so stupid, doing anything but nearly dissolving into tears like he was. Roman leaned forward and pressed their lips together, and Virgil was too scared to move away. Roman was a grey side now, and they were known to react extremely violently to the smallest transgressions. If he wanted a kiss, Virgil was just going to have to let it happen, but just as soon as that thought had fully formed, Roman was straightening up.

"I thought you liked me Virgil." Roman said. Virgil would have preferred violence at this point. His voice was empty, and hollow. It was hardly recognizable as Princy's anymore, but while Roman was holding him close like this, Virgil could see in his eyes something he couldn't before. They were brown, not like they always were, but they were brown. Not grey. Brown. But as Roman let go of him, apologizing tonelessly, the little saturation it had bled away, and Virgil started to panic. Touching him helped Roman! It had started to bring him back! He'd just pushed him away. He grasped Roman's hands as they slid away from him, pulling himself into Princy's arms.

"I do like you!" Virgil assured him. "You surprised me." He looked into Roman's eyes again and was relieved to see they had turned back to a pale brown He offered him a weak smile, as he felt his arms tighten around him.

"You don't mind if I kiss you?" He asked.

"Not at all." Virgil said, nodding his head. Roman closed the gap between their lips a moment later, this time Virgil made sure to kiss him back. Roman ran his fingers through Virgil's hair as he pulled back again and Virgil, trying his best to convince himself that Roman really did like him, and that everything was okay, turned his head slightly to look at Patton. He was crying, tears were pouring down his face, his hand was clasped over his mouth. Virgil made to walk toward him, but Roman directed his face back to his and leaned in to kiss him again. He stepped out of Roman's grasp, twisting a bit to shake off his left arm, grasped his right hand, and awkwardly put his unoccupied arm around Patton's shoulders in an attempt to comfort him.

"It's okay dad." He said, not really believing himself. "Roman's here, we can help him now, it'll be okay. Right Roman?" He added, desperately hoping Roman would agree.

"Of course, my love." Virgil's heart froze. Why was it that the first time someone he actually really liked said that they loved him, they were dead?

"I'm sorry, V-virge, Ro, ofc-course I'm happy you're back. It's j-just with Logan still missing… what if someone killed him too?" And Patton collapsed back into tears on Virgil's shoulder. Virgil let go of Roman's hand for a moment to consol Patton, somehow feeling like he had made a grave mistake in the process.

"It's okay Patton." He murmured, though truthfully he was terrified of that prospect too.

"Virgil, do you love Patton?" Roman asked suddenly, gently directing Virgil away from the Morality side.. Virgil knew this one. Caesar had done this to him too. He had said yes, and Caesar hurt him for it. Grey-Roman would surely do the same, but what could Virgil say? He would NOT deny loving Patton, Pat was his dad, and it would destroy the little puff ball.

"Yes…" He started timidly, but then added a hasty "But not the way that I love you."

"Of course, Virgil." Roman said, sliding his arm around his shoulders. "I understand. I only wanted to make sure it would make you happy if I helped him."

"Help him? What do you mean help him?" Virgil asked. He realized that Roman was helping to make HIM happy. Grey sides didn't do that. They had one specific goal or dream they clung to and that was it. Virgil's heart dropped at the realization of what his thoughts meant. Roman loved him so much that when he died, VIRGIL'S memory was all that was left. No one else. "Patton, what if I told you I knew how to get Logan back?" Patton's head shot up, his eyes widened and filled with a different kind of tears.

"What do I do?" He said immediately.

"We'll have to send you through the light mirror-" Roman began. Virgil felt his stomach lurch.

"No! You can't send him to the grey domain! Not alone!" He yelped.

"I would never." Roman said in the same flat tone. "You go through the grey mirror to get to the grey domain. The light mirror will take you to wherever you are needed most, the dark mirror will take you to wherever you least need to go or wherever is most dangerous for you, and they grey mirror takes you to the grey domain."

"What if Pat goes through the mirror and it brings him back here?" Virgil asked nervously.

"Then he is more needed here than he is with Logan, which we must assume means that he is not in need of help. So either way, it's a win win, correct?" He said.

"So I can either save Logan, or find out that he doesn't need saving?" Patton clarified.

"Indeed." Roman replied.

"How do I find the mirror?" Patton asked.

"Hold on a minute, what makes you think you're going alone?" Virgil asked.

"Because if Patton goes wherever Logan is, he will no longer affect Thomas, and the same for you. You cannot allow Thomas to have no natural flight or fight response. It will get him killed." Roman replied.

"That was surprisingly logical." Virgil pointed out. Roman tightened his arms around him again.

"Perhaps Logan is closer now than we thought." Roman said. Patton beamed brightly.

"So it'll be easier to help him!" He said excitedly. "Right?"

"Absolutely." Roman replied.

"How do I get there?" Patton asked.

"Allow yourself to be pulled by your own feeling." He said.

"What?" Patton seemed to be confused, and Virgil definitely was.

"If you concentrate hard enough, you can feel the others that still affect Thomas." Roman began to explain.

"Right, that's how I keep track of my kids when I can't see them." Patton nodded in agreement.

"Concentrate harder, search deeper, and you will be able to feel your own emotions. Those will always be just slightly in front, behind or to the side of you until you find the mirror room. Then just walk through the mirror." Roman finished.

"Okay!" Patton closed his eyes.

"Pat wait!" Virgil called out. He stepped forward out of Roman's arms and into Patton's. "Be safe okay? Don't you dare leave me too." Patton squeezed him tightly.

"It'll be okay kiddo, I'm an adult. Don't worry." He squeezed him again, and Virgil stepped back.

"Come back quickly, okay?" Virgil asked, fighting against the emotion welling up inside of him.

"As quickly as I can." Patton promised. His eyes fell closed and shimmered for a moment before he slowly started to sink down through the ground into Thomas's mind. Virgil let Roman pull him into his arms again, murmuring words that would have been comforting if there was any emotion behind them.

He was basing from the water He would return to it every ten minutes until he determined the stability of the chamber. He did not want to lose himself again, he'd come so far! If he ended up in the kitchen again… or worse the tile room… He'd lose it completely. He was playing the game the way it was meant to be played. He was following the rules, spoken and unspoken. He was doing what they said, he even took the da- He heard voices and for the first time in a while he found himself truly angry at the sides who had put him in there. He marched to the clearing where the creek was, drawing a short dagger from his pocket, uncovering it and brandishing it forward toward the projections.

"I already know you're not real. I've killed you all once and I'll do it again." He yelled at them. He took in The pale complection of one of them, and the muted, grey complection of the other. Logan looked upward, yelling because he knew they could hear him.

"You're fucked up! You swore you wouldn't do this to me again! I'm playing by the goddamned rules, why won't you?"

"Logan? Is- is that really you?" The pale projection had walked towards him, the grey projection had done the same but had drawn a weapon. "Are you okay?" Logan steeled himself, lunging with his dagger, pinning the armed projection against a large rock with a foot to the chest.

"Logan!" The pale projection shouted, allarmed. This armed one didn't beg like the other ones had, and for some reason it was that that made Logan realize that he had beaten the game. He'd escaped, He was free. But Roman, if Logan's theories were correct, had failed. He backed up away from Roman letting his dagger fall to the ground.

"I- I made it out. I'm free." He mumbled.

"Logan… Logan!" Virgil had grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "What's going on?" Logan could barely process what was happening. He was free. He got out. He won. "Snap out of it man!" Virgil's voice was shrill and worried, shaking Logan from his stupor.

"Virgil!" He gasped, pulling him into a very brief hug. "Good to see you! Where's Patton? What happened to R-" And just like that his joy vanished. He turned to look at the deceased side. "Oh my god, Roman." He whispered weakly. "What-" He looked up into Roman's face, his expression was chillingly blank, but there was a hue to his eyes. Logan almost couldn't see it, but it was there. He felt himself snap back to his professional self as he turned to Virgil.

"We can still save him." He informed him confidently. Virgil's eyes lit up.

"You can?" He asked excitedly.

"We can." Logan corrected him. "But we'll need Patton, where is he?"

"He should be arriving back here any minute now." Virgil said uncertainly.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked.

"I sent him to the light mirror." Roman explained.

"No!" Logan shouted. "You didn't!"

"I did." Roman replied. His voice was flat, like he was reciting memorized information, like he felt nothing about the words he was speaking, like it meant nothing. "You though, you're too smart to trick. I'll just have to dispose of you out right."

"WHAT?" It was Virgil who yelled, Logan had already known that was coming. If Roman was outside of the grey domain, his one goal or dream was only achievable out here. Likely, knowing him, it had to be about a person. Roman looked to Patton as a father figure, and Roman had expressed his will to only be friends with Logan a few years ago when Patton had asked about them. Roman despised, or perhaps he was afraid of, any and all sides that recognize Lucius as King and therefore Virgil was the clear logical choice. If he viewed Virgil's affection toward Patton and his respect for Logan as obstacles he wouldn't think twice about disposing of them. But Roman had already pointed something out. Logan was much smarter than him.

"Roman… It's not like you to overlook something so crucial when it comes to Virgil." Logan replied coolly.

"I don't understand." Roman stated. But even so he had put his sword back in his sheath.

"It's simple really. You see Patton and myself as obstacles, but Virgil doesn't see us as competition with you. He's quite fond of us, you see. Getting rid of us will hurt Virgil, and damage your reputation as a suitable partner for him."

"I've hurt him." Logan could tell it was supposed to be a question, but it sounded like a statement. A flat, unconcerned statement. Roman crossed to Virgil, placing his left hand on his hip. His right hand came up to cup his cheek.

"Forgive me, Virgil. I can fix this. I will fix it." Virgil was looking into Roman's eyes as though searching for an answer.

"What did you do to him, Roman?" He asked quietly. "Where did you send him?"

"The Afterwards." Roman replied. "I'll go in after him. I'll bring him back."

"Roman…"

"I want you to stay here with Logan. I know he'll watch out for you, he's as sharp as his dagger-" Logan felt a rush of pride- "Please mind him, and stay safe while I'm gone." He leaned toward Virgil, kissing him, and then stepped backwards. "I love you Virgil, I'm doing this for you." When Virgil didn't reply for a few moments, Roman sunk out.

"Logan…" Virgil began. "If sides go grey when they die, how do you get sent to the Afterwards?"

"By fading." Logan replied grimly. "Sometimes Thomas loses things he can never get back."


	26. A Matter of the Heart

Chapter Nine

A Matter of the Heart

Patton was ecstatic! Finally, finally he had a way to save Logan, to help his family! All he had to do was walk through a mirror and he would find him! He'd bring Logan back to the others, and he would know how to fix Roman, he knew everything after all, and after Logan fixed Roman they could figure out what the ghost really was, Virgil and Roman would be able to fight it off because those two were the strongest and bestest fighters ever, and then Thomas would be all better. They could spend the last day or two at their friend's house and actually fully enjoy it, then go back home and start writing and auditioning for plays again. And maybe Patton would even get to tell logan the thing he'd been struggling to say to him for the past two or three years. It would be perfect again. And all he had to do was walk through the mirror. So why was he hesitating? He wanted to just step forward into the glass to find Logan, but he was scared. Something about all of this felt wrong, it was as if Deceit- Judas!- was pressing in on his mind, trying to tell him something while simultaneously Virgil was pressing into him too, begging him to listen. He knew Virgil wasn't really trying to say anything to him. He could always feel Virgil loud and clear when he called. Patton assumed he was just feeling anxious but what about Judas? He'd never felt like that before, and for all he knew, that's exactly how it would feel for Judas to try to talk to him. He shook the thought out of his mind and drew himself up. He was the king. He was the dad. Even if he was scared or confused he had to do what was best for his kingdom… his family. So he jumped through the glass. He had expected it to be like a portal, or maybe feel like he was sinking out or rising up, instead, it felt like he had merely stepped into a different room. Not only that, but he did not expect to be brought to a place like this at all. He assumed that Logan would be trapped somewhere in the dark. Somewhere dangerous that could hurt him or be keeping him there, but he found himself in a grassy meadow full of flowers of all different colors and shapes. The sky was a soft, warm blue and the clouds were whispy and far apart. The grass came up to his knees and was soft. There were mountains far in the distance that were colored a soft lilac color. To his left was a small, calm steam of crystal clear water that Patton was sure he could jump over without even running. There were a few, long, skinny fish that glittered and sparkled pretty golds and pinks. Not far off to his right was a mount of pink, purple, blue, and green crystals that had almost perfect stairs carved into the side. Curious to see why, Patton made his way over to them, stepping gently in case there were mice or rabbits living in the grass that he might step on. He climbed carefully to the top and, to his delight realized the crystal was actually a wall around a deep but clear pond big enough for someone to swim in with lily pads and lotus floating on the surface. There were carp and goldfish lazing around, and a turtle that was currently resting on a part of the crystal wall. A lady bug took off from the lotus petal and flew away. Patton giggled. This place was beautiful. Patton stood straighter on the crystal wall, looking around himself. That's when he saw Thomas. Not really Thomas, but a little version of Thomas. The way he looked when he was four or five. His eyes widened and his lip trembled when he noticed Patton was looking at him. Patton's paternal instincts took over, and he was by the child's side in a second.

"Hey there kiddo, what's wrong?" Patton asked him.

"I missed you." The little boy said. And that's when Patton noticed something. The little boy had a single word stitched into the sleeve of his Rugrats T-Shirt… Innocence. Patton had only been six or seven when he last saw innocence. He had given up on trying to find him a very, very long time ago. After he got older, he assumed that innocence and fused with him, but clearly there was still a little bit of pure innocence in Thomas left.

"I missed you too kiddo." Patton said honestly, giving a big hug to his childhood friend. "Virgil told me you were here before. Maybe I should've listened, huh?" He asked tearfully. Innocence nodded, but started pulling him away from the pond.

"What's up, kiddo?" Patton asked. Innocence pointed to a large house on the side of the mountain.

"Family." He said simply, and Patton followed without hesitation.

"I don't understand how anyone would know anything about Patton's mind." Virgil claimed exasperatedly.

"It's not just his mind we're talking about… it's another plain of consciousness. Another layer to Thomas's mind." Logan replied gently.

"What does that mean?"

It didn't take nearly as long to reach the mountain as Patton thought it would. He felt lighter and faster than ever before. The house was huge. Way larger than Patton originally thought it would be. It was beautiful though, constructed of crystals and flowers. It was tall, and spread across the mountain side, it was a mansion!

"Not quite a mansion, Patton." Patton gasped. It was Logan! He was here! He was okay! "To be a mansion a house must have at least 7,000 square feet of floor space, this is only 6,394 square feet." Patton rushed up to him and hugged him tightly. "Do you like it Patton? I built it just for us."

"You… built this?" Patton whispered.

"Have you ever seen Inception?" Logan asked?

"Why do you keep answering my questions with questions?" Virgil growled.

"Just bear with me for a moment, yes?" Logan asked with a mischievous half-smile. Virgil glared at him.

"No, I haven't seen Inception." He replied.

"It's a movie about planting ideas in people's minds. Dreams within dreams. The basic concept is shockingly similar to what we can do with Thomas."

"Which is?" Virgil demanded.

"Yes I did. And I'm going to build one for roman and Virgil." Logan replied. "I used my telekinetic powers to lift all the crystals out of the ground and reshape them. See, the white crystal is called Danburite, and the blues that I used to frame the doors and windows are Larimar and Sodalite." Patton let Logan's words wash over him. The sound of his voice was calm and serene like it was whenever the two of them had laid down to look at the stars together in the past. Logan always was so smart, he knew everything there was to know about space. He knew all about plants too. He knew how to make things fly, he knew how to lift things off the ground even if they were too heavy for Roman and Virgil. He knew so many things and it was one of patton's favorite pastimes to listen to him talk about all the things he knew. He sighed and let himself melt into Logan's arms, laying his head on his shoulder as he spoke. "The outside of the roof is just regular concrete, but I packed on some soil and planted the beginning of a little garden for you. I'm thinking Roman and Virgil's should primarily be made of black sphalerite and white quartz. That would look something like this." A small blue light began pulsing in Logan's open palm and slowly the flickering image of a very pretty rock was hovering over his hand. Half of it was black and sharp looking with straight sides and short, smooth rectangles jutting out of it. The other half was white and sparkly, the growths were more round and gentle, wrapping around the black like it was giving it a tight hug.

"That's perfect!" Patton said, earning a small, reserved smile from Logan.

"I'm thinking of making theirs different. They both have their own distinct uniqueness to them, I don't see why the home I'm building for them shouldn't be like that too." He explained quietly.

"There are different levels of consciousness, as I'm sure you know. The deeper down you go, the harder it is to understand things. It's easy to become lost, confused, disconnected from what is real and what isn't." Logan explained patiently. "Roman, however, will always return to you, no matter what. A fake won't fool him." Virgil nodded slowly.

"You sound like you know about this first hand." Virgil said quietly. Logan grimaced slightly.

"You have no idea." He gritted his teeth.

"I was thinking that you could help me design it." Logan said softly. "We could build it together, just the two of us. Would you like that?" Patton nodded eagerly.

"Unhand him spectre." Roman had his sword drawn and was pointing it towards Logan.

"Roman-" Patton trailed off, confused. Roman was still grey, but Virgil was nowhere in sight and he had… an expression. A negative, angry expression, but an expression all the same.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Logan said calmly, but his jaw clenched slightly. "Roman, step inside for a moment, I can get your color issue sorted out." Roman straightened a little, as though shocked, and his brave and angry bravado faltered for a moment.

"No." He said after a second. "Patton get away from him, this is not Logan. Logan is safe in the real world with Virgil and Thomas right now."

"Then why am I here?" Patton squeaked, baking away from the side he thought was Logan

"Because I lied to you." Roman bit out.

"Patton…" Logan's voice was soft and gentle, practically dripping with tenderness and concern. "He's lying to you."

"No! I'm not!" Roman barked aggressively. "Patton, I thought you were in my way and I had barely any control over myself as it was. I pointed you in a dangerous direction, I'm sorry, but Patton; Thomas, Virgil, and the real Logan are waiting for us to come back. They need us, they need you." Patton could barely register what was happening. His mind felt all clouded like he was in a hot, steamy, sweet-smelling shower and all of his senses were being overtaken by the smells and feelings. He could barely hear the two of them.

"Come on, Patton, this most-likely isn't even the real Roman. Look at him, he's grey but expressing emotion?" Logan had his arms wrapped around him again, and his deep soothing voice was surrounding him just like the sweet-smelling steam.

"Get away from him!" Roman swiped with his sword making Logan back away. "Patton, this is a dangerously unstable individual you're dealing with here."

"How are you feeling emotion here if you're the real Roman?" Patton asked confusedly.

"This whole place is made out of emotions Patton, it's impossible not to feel, but because I went grey before coming down here, I can see through all the illusions and tricks."

"Patton, look at me." Logan purred, taking Patton's hands in his. "Would I ever lie to you?" His eyes sparkled with sincerity and Patton couldn't help but feel that he was being honest and the feelings around Roman were so cold and hostile. Innocence spoke up.

"Please stay with us. We missed you so much." He looked up at Patton with a little frown and a trembling lip. For a wonderful, weightless second, Patton had made up his mind. He was going to stay here with Logan and innocence and build a home for Virgil and Roman… the real Virgil and Roman, and they were going to be happy and safe forever. And then reality hit him like a speeding train. It was just a flicker of something. A voice just like Logan's. The real Logan's. Barely audible, reminding him of his room. And Patton remembered. The way it felt to be trapped in the nostalgia of his room was nearly just like this. It was sweet and comforting and it wrapped around you, but when you tried to escape, it held on, and the harder you struggle, the tighter it held on, and only realizing that you were trapped would do anything to break the spell. That's when Patton saw it. The landscape around him flickered like the image of the pretty rock fake Logan had showed him, except there was something underneath. The mountains were black, the grass and flowers were brown and wilted, the crystals were- Patton thought he was going to be sick- bones and skulls dripping with blood. Logan and Innocence were… they were… zombies? Not quite. Worse than that. Horrible, disgusting, rotting corpses of what used to be his very best friends. Without thinking, even hesitating, he took off. At first he was running as fast as he could, but he tripped and found himself flying instead. Behind him, he heard the outraged shrieks from the images of his friends and heard Roman calling for him to wait. He stopped in mid flight, turning around to face the mountain. It was nothing like it had been before. The rock was crumbling, any plants were wilting or dried and black. Fire was raging up the side and pillars of black smoke were rising from the top. Patton was about to swoop in to pick Roman up and fly him away from that horrible, awful place when the volcano blew its top. The sound was unbearable, and the smell was even worse. A hot, fowl wind was pushing him backward, scalding ash and enormous rocks pelted him, burning his skin, crushing the arm he had thrown up to protect his face, and he was falling backwards, speeding towards the ground. The rapid change in altitude and the continuing earth-shaking rumble of the volcano roaring in his ears, the sensation of falling and the overbearing smell of rot and sulfur making his stomach feel like it was turning inside out. He couldn't die now… He needed to help Roman, he was in danger! He needed to get back to his son and Logan! He needed to get back to Thomas. But as his head collided with the rocky ground of the nightmarish plain he found himself in, the last thought the flit across his mind was;

"What's going to happen to Thomas if I go grey?"


	27. Wake Up Call

Chapter Ten

Wake-up Call

His eyes slowly cracked open and he found himself lying on a soft, warm bed. Logan was sitting at his side, reading a book titled "Love and Lies, a Guide to Human Emotions", a look of concentration on his face. There was a note-book beside him with notes scrawled in his neat but cramped, looping handwriting. He held a pen behind his ear, a capped highlighter in one hand, and a pencil between his teeth. He clearly hadn't noticed that Patton was awake yet. Patton looked to his left, and there was Virgil, a sad look on his face, his head-phones on and his eyes closed. Next to him was Roman, back in full color looking troubled. He had his sword out and was cleaning it, polishing the blade even though it was sparkling and Patton could see Roman's reflection in it from all the way across the room like he was.

"Patton!" Roman had looked up and noticed that he was awake. Logan's book was down in seconds, and Virgil's headphones were off.

"Pat you scared the hell out of us! We thought you were going to die!" Virgil growled, leaning over and giving him a huge hug. Patton returned the embrace tightly. Roman was next to wrap his arms around him. Patton never refused a hug… even if he was very confused. After Roman pulled back, even Logan gave him a hug, albeit a bit awkward and unsure.

"What happened?" Patton asked, confused.

"The resulting shockwave of the clash between the powers of Lucius and Caesar caused you to lose consciousness." Logan replied, matter-of-factly. "You've been in a coma for a few weeks."

"And the whole time, Logan only left this room to use the bathroom and change." Roman said in a mischievous, teasing voice. "We had to bring food in here for him or he wouldn't eat." Logan cleared his throat.

"Yes, well… I'm the only one with any sort of medical training. I had to be here. Incase anything happened." He said awkwardly.

"Uh-huh, sure." Virgil said sarcastically, with a small half-smile. "It's not because you're in love with him or anything." Patton's heart skipped a beat. Logan was in love with him? That would be the most wonderful thing ever! But something still wasn't right.

"When did Lucius and Caesar fight? Last time anyone saw Caesar was forever ago." Virgil immediately looked concerned. Logan's brow furrowed slightly in confusion. Roman, however, chuckled slightly.

"Looks like Remy came through for you huh?" He said.

"What?" Patton tilted his head to one side, but Logan nodded and Virgil made a little 'oh!' sound. "Remy told us he would try to make sure you had an exciting dream while you were out of it so it wouldn't just be like vast empty nothingness." Roman explained.

"Oh!" Patton said brightly. That explained quite a lot of what had happened. Ghosts? Of course there were no such thing as ghosts. Gray sides? Thomas didn't have any. Logan getting kidnapped? He was way too clever for that. Virgil almost killing someone? He'd never. He was a precious little stormy angel. There was a quiet knock on the door. Virgil stood to open it, and on the other side was Judas(Who for some reason only had his yellow eye and a few patches of scales instead of half of his entire face), Remus, Nate, and Tom. Judas took his hat off and stepped into the large, high ceilinged room as Virgil stepped aside to let them in, inclining his head in greeting. Nate had a grey bandana tied over his mouth and nose, which he removed upon crossing the threshold. Tom removed his helmet, revealing a face much different than what Patton would've expected. He still looked like Thomas, but with lots of scars. Remus, upon crossing the threshold of the room, took a crown off of his head. One exactly like the one Patton remembered Lucius wearing. Remus stepped forward.

"Hi Patton!" He said with his usual explosive bubbly cheeriness. "I brought you flowers!" And he had indeed. Not normal flowers of course, but flowers nonetheless. They had long, thin greyish stems, and large, full, round black petals. In the center instead of some sort of pollen, each had a single blue eyeball. Patton fought the urge to cringe back away from them. It became especially hard when one of them blinked.

"Thank you Remus, that's kind of you." Patton smiled at him. Which was true. It was kind that Remus had thought of him, especially since Remus probably adored flowers like that. Remus beamed, and Roman took them from his hands. Patton watched in amazement as Roman drew the shape of a vase in the air with his finger and a real vase started to take form right where he had drawn it. It gently dropped onto the table beside Patton. Roman then made a motion as if he were pouring something into the vase. Water streamed from the inside of his softly closed fist in a wide, long arc into the vase. Patton gasped and clapped while as Roman set the flowers into the water. "That was amazing!" Patton squealed, beaming at his prince-like son.

"Why thank you Patton." Roman said taking a stage bow.

"Where did you learn to do that kiddo?" Patton asked, tilting his head to one side in interest.

"Oh right, you were already asleep." Virgil said. "Roman ended up getting his brothers powers when he dueled him."

"They dueled again?" Patton asked.

"Yeah! It was amazing! Roman was super impressive! After he won the duel, he broke the curse Caesar put on me." Deceit said, his voice ringing with the sound of hero worship.

"Oh wow! You don't have to always speak in lies anymore?" Patton asked him.

"Yes. He set me free." He turned toward Roman, eyes sparkling with adoration. Virgil made a strange noise in the back of his throat, leaning against Roman and laying his head on his shoulder.

"He set me free from my curse too." Nate admitted, drawing Patton's attention. "I have way more control over myself."

"He set us all free of Lucius." Tom pointed out, shifting his helmet. It looked really heavy.

"Hey kiddo, how about you put that helmet down for a minute? It looks heavy." Patton offered.

"It is heavy, but I'm fine thank you." Tom said, with a slight, sheepish smile.

"So Remus, where'd you get that crown from?" Patton asked curiously.

"Well, brother dearest here overthrew Lucius with all his new magic that left us with no King. The king of the dark sides is always the scariest and craziest, so here we are!" He said brightly. "I didn't even used to be allowed in or around the palace before, I'm going up in the world!" Patton smiled, this time with no difficulty.

"That's great kiddo!" He said sweetly, with a big smile.

"You ready to get out of bed there compadre?" Roman asked, holding out his hand.

"Not yet." Logan cut across sharply. "He has not finished healing, if he gets up now he risks reinjuring himself."

"Really? I don't feel bad." Patton said, looking to Logan. Logan looked down at him, smiling a small reserved smile that made Patton blush.

"Maybe so, Patton, but I'd rather keep you here for the time being so I can monitor you." He said gently. "One does not simply get up to get a drink of water after being in a two week coma, and there are reasons for this. Besides being strenuous on the body, being unconscious for that long is always a sign of a greater problem. As of now, we believe that problem has been solved, but we don't know for certain, therefore you will remain here until we have confirmed that there is no longer an issue."

"Awwe." Roman and Virgil teased, earning a cold but half-hearted glare from Logan. Patton smiled around at everyone, overjoyed that the rift between the sides had closed. This was even better than his dream where he and Logan were going to build a house together. Instead of his family just growing closer, they had doubled its size and drew closer together, and everything was normal and made sense. Except for one thing. Looking around the room, he realized he didn't know where he was. The walls were done in deep blue with a silvery grey edging. Within the edging were ornate carvings of eagles. On the wall that housed the door, there were shelves and shelves of books covering every square inch that wouldn't block the door from opening. On the wall directly in front of him there was a large billboard with newspaper clippings, and pictures, and push pins with different colored thread tied to them. Beneath that was a desk covered in papers, pencils, pens, highlighters, empty jam jars, and empty mugs. On the wall to the left of him was a gorgeous mural of an owl, flying out of the pages of a large, open book that was laying in a patch of flowers with many, long, almost triangular petals done in bronze, silver, and gold. Looking up, Patton noticed a few things. There was a shelf above his head that had some sort of stuffed animal on it- its tail was hanging off. The ceiling was even more beautiful than the left wall. It was a deep, deep blue that was practically black with little flecks of white, bright yellow, light orange, and red that almost seemed to glow. They were stars, and some of them had light blue lines tracing over them and connecting them together to form what Patton knew to be the constellations of Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo. The moon was even painted off slightly in the corner, large and silver and bright. It was like something straight out of Hogwarts it looked so real. As you looked higher up the walls they seemed to become more rounded and smoothed over, making it look like a tower, and what Patton originally thought was an artistic bookshelf design was actually a set of stairs leading up to a sturdy-looking and polished hardwood catwalk that edged the wall.

"About that." Patton said slowly. "Where is here?" Logan faltered for a second, seeming to freeze up slightly. Patton could practically hear the Microsoft error noise sounding off.

"My room." He said after a second, an almost invisible blush coloring his cheeks. Patton, too, blushed slightly, realizing that for the last two weeks he'd been sleeping in Logan's bed while Logan slept in a chair next to him, however Patton smiled at him.

"Did you do the paintings then?" He asked. Logan's face turned nearly entirely red and his eyes widened a fraction.

"I- uhm- yea- I mean, uh yes." He sputtered. "It was years ago… we were sixteen…"

"You've been painting like this since we were sixteen?" Patton asked, awed. Virgil whistled.

"Wow." Roman said, sounding awe-struck.

"You're really skilled Logan." Judas said in the same tone as Roman.

"Falsehood." Logan mumbled, but then he cleared his throat. "Patton is going to be needing quite a lot of rest for the next few days, so if you would be so kind…"

"What do you mean he's going to need rest? He just slept for two weeks." Nate pointed out.

"Not restful sleep." Logan said, gently directing everyone toward the door. "Sleeping is one of the most important things he can do right now."

"We'll be back later, Pat!" Virgil called as Logan shut the door.

"That was kind of rude, Logan." Patton reprimanded him gently. Logan sunk into one of the black armchairs by his bed, and picked up Patton's hand in both of his.

"I know," Logan replied softly. "But sometimes things like that must be done in order to do your job. You need your rest, and the more people here, the harder that will be for you." Patton beamed at his little half-smile.

"Thanks for taking care of me kiddo." He said.

"Of course Patton." Logan said, suddenly looking at him with a very intense and serious expression. "You've always taken care of me, it's the very least I could do for you." Patton felt his face heating up once again.

"You shouldn't have to take care of me kiddo, and besides, I love taking care of you guys. Even when you don't want to ask." Something like amazement flashed in Logan's eyes as they looked at each other, and the little smile started to take over his expression again. Logan slowly started to lean forward, but then jerked like something had shocked him and blinked dazedly. He cleared his throat awkwardly and turned away, letting go of Patton's hands. Something cold filled Patton's chest when Logan turned away from him. Had Logan just been about to kiss him? If so, why didn't he? Was he scared Patton would reject him? He wanted Logan to know that everything was okay, that he loved him more than anything, that he would never reject him. He sat up all the way, and started to reach toward him, ready to stand up and give Logan a hug, but everything in the room seemed to lurch and spin horribly, and all sound was suddenly taken over by a dull ringing. The edges of his vision went blurry and began to darken. Before he knew what was happening, Logan's arms were around him, laying him back down in the bed. Patton blinked.

"What happened?"

"You're going to be very dizzy and light-headed for awhile Patton." Logan said gently, brushing his bangs out of his face. Patton smiled weakly.

"Oh, okay." He said, embarrassed.

"I know it seems like you shouldn't have to sleep yet, but being unconscious isn't usually a very restful sleep, so if you start to feel tired at all, please don't fight it." Logan said, pulling the blanket up to cover Patton's chest and arms, and it was then that Patton realized he was only wearing pajama pants and blushed furiously. Someone had, had to have changed his clothes while he was unconscious, and he'd bet that it was Logan.

"Logan… kiddo… thank you, so much. For everything." Patton whispered to him. Logan looked back at him, the tiny smile still ghosting over his face. Suddenly, nearly inexplicably, Patton felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. Confusion and concern slowly made its way onto Logan's face.

"Are you in pain?" He asked immediately.

"Yes." Patton choked. "But not the kind you can fix with medicine." The tears began to drip down his cheeks. "It's silly I know, but there were things from my dream that- well- they scared me." He took a deep, broken breath, trying to regain control of himself. "I don't want any of you to get hurt. I don't want you to go away, I don't want Roman to die, I don't want Virgil to cry."

"It's alright Patton, it was just a dream." Logan straightened up, his expression slightly annoyed.

"I-I know." Patton whimpered. "I'm sorry. I really don't mean to cause a problem, Logan."

"It's fine." But Logan still seemed annoyed. Oh well, that was fine. He could be mad at him all he wanted, so long as everyone was okay. The flowers Remus had brought to him all blinked simultaneously, and shivered as though they were sentient. Patton shivered too.

"Would you like me to get rid of these for you?" Logan asked, disgust coloring his tone as he curled his lip at the flowers.

"No thank you, it's okay. The thought behind them is really sweet." He said honestly.

"I suppose so." Logan sighed. "Get some sleep, Patton." He switched off the light, but Patton knew he had settled back into the armchair beside him. He turned over and cuddled into the blankets around him, snuggling into them and closed his eyes.


	28. Crown of Glass

Chapter Eleven

Crown of Glass

The next morning saw Patton with a great big smile, sitting on the edge of the bed, eating a breakfast that Virgil and Roman had prepared and brought in to him and Logan. Remy stopped by and brought Picani. Patton was overjoyed to see him, and Picani was just as excited. They hardly ever got to talk, even though they genuinely liked each other quite a lot. Picani was an imaginary figment that Roman had made a few years ago, but Remy had taken a shine to him and upgraded him to what he called a Sleepwalker. Basically an honorary side. The two of them stayed and chatted until Virgil came back in from doing whatever it was he had excused himself to do. It seemed that Remy was upset with him for one reason or another, because the second he came in, Remy pulled Picani away out the door. Calling good-bye as he stumbled over the threshold, Picani waved and smiled cheerily, Patton returning the gesture. Logan, surprisingly, invited Remus back over, who subsequently brought the rest of the dark sides. Patton smiled watching his family. Everything had changed so much, and yet everyone was still the same. Virgil and Nate were playing cards in the corner. Virgil would occasionally accuse Nate of breaking one rule or another and Nate would concede saying, yes he had broken the rule, because it was dumb, which would sometimes cause Virgil to throw a card at him. Roman was talking, telling a fantastic story about one of his adventures in Thomas's imagination, Judas and Remus practically hanging off of his every word. Occasionally, Logan would mumble something like, "Only in the land of fantasy would a plan like that work," or "How is he not dead yet?" Tom was sitting next to Logan, regarding him curiously.

"Logan," he asked. "How on Earth is this room even possible?" He looked up the walls, then back down. "My room is definitely different than anywhere you'll see on Earth, and so is Nate's, but why does your room not mirror where Thomas is?" He gave a fond, almost kind smile in Logan's direction.

"Thomas's taste and price range in both furniture and architecture proved too unsophisticated for myself, and I simply decided I no longer wished to mirror the real world. Aside from that, I find that it provides a more stimu-"

"How the hell did you just decide you didn't want to mirror the real world anymore? That's not how that works." Virgil snapped.

"Yes it is." Logan argued, nonchalantly.

"How?" Virgil demanded.

"Roman, care to explain? I assume you figured it out by now." Logan said, setting his tea cup down on the desk-which he had cleared off entirely while Patton was sleeping. Patton frowned, wondering if Logan was okay. He never wanted other people to do the explaining for him. Maybe the stress of being forced to care for him so closely was getting to him. He certainly hoped that wasn't what it was, but that was the most likely cause.

"Uhmmmm… I'm not sure I did it the same way you did." Roman said, having to cut off in the middle of his story to respond.

"Either way, how did you?" Logan snapped. Roman rolled his eyes.

"I simply told myself I could change it and imagined it to be that way, and it was changed." He said, crossing his arms. Judas shot Logan an annoyed look, then asked Roman to continue with his story, which he eagerly did.

"So how'd you do it Logan?" Virgil asked. He flicked Nate's hand away from the deck of cards without so much as looking over at him.

"Much the same way. In my studies to investigate what we are, I began experimenting with what abilities all of us may have. As I predicted, command over the structures of Thomas's mind is one thing all of us can do. Through sheer force of will alone we can change the way Thomas perceives things, and thus what exists to us." Roman's story was cut off again at Logan's words.

"Wait so my creation power is nothing? We can all do that?" He asked angrily.

"Not at all, actually." Logan corrected him calmly. "We only change Thomas's perception of pre existing things. We don't create something out of nothing, which is what you do. It's the difference between convincing someone that an apple is actually an orange and pulling an orange from thin air."

"Oh, weird. So if I tried hard enough, Thomas would see his house like a castle/mansion thing?" Roman asked.

"Most likely," Logan began, "however it is inadvisable. Changing Thomas's perception of the real world can damage his mental health, however, the closer our world mirrors the real one, the higher the chances of damaging our own and Thomas's mental health become through subconscious confusion."

"So the more fucked up I make things here, the better it is for Thomas?" Remus asked excitedly.

"No!" Logan cut in quickly. "The more unique we make things, not disturbing or dangerous. Filling Thomas's mind with something he fears or is repulsed by will also damage him." Virgil flinched noticeably, and looked down at his feet.

"Not you Kiddo." Patton assured him quietly. "You're different." Virgil didn't respond. He put his cards down on the table and stood up.

"I'll be back in a little while Patton." He said in a low voice, walking quickly out the door. He was gone before Patton could reply.

"Logan, I think you hurt Virgil's feelings." Patton said softly.

"What?" Logan replied. "How could I have done that? I hardly spoke to him. Is it because I hardly spoke to him?"

"No." Patton shook his head. "At least, I don't think so, but you did mention fear being bad for Thomas. You didn't say excluding Virgil, you said fear and I think he started questioning himself again." Logan gave a short nod and furrowed his brows.

"Virgil's lack of confidence in himself is definitely something we should work on with him." He replied.

"Am I okay enough to go find him?" Patton asked.

"Not so fast compadre." Roman said, standing up. "I'll go check up on Virgil. You stay here and get better." He walked towards the door, opening it.

"Okay kiddo, if you're sure." Patton said, laying back into the pillows again.

"I'm so glad everything's working out the way it is." Patton admitted. "There are a few rough spots, but all of us are starting to get along, and it really makes me happy."

"You're right about that, Pat."

"Thomas!" Patton squealed as he crossed through the door. "How are you kiddo?"

"I'm feeling great actually!" He said brightly. "Where's Virgil and Roman?"

"Just missed them." Judas said with an annoyed tone.

"So they left a while ago?" Thomas asked confused.

"Oh right, you don't know." Nate said. "Shit's changed while Pat was out."

"Yeah like what?" Thomas asked curiously, sitting in the chair Virgil had vacated earlier.

"Well, for one, the dark sides are under new management." Logan replied, gesturing to the black crown upon Remus's head.

"And we are working alongside each other better than we have since that one time in fifth grade." Nate pointed out. Remus snickered and Judas smirked.

"Please don't bring that up again. Are you all just trying to do Virgil's job now?" Thomas asked. Judas laughed.

"Sure, Thomas."

"Right, you still haven't explained what happened with him. " He remembered.

"Roman defeated Lucius, that's how Remus became king, and he freed Judas and Nate from their figurative ferric prisons." Logan informed him.

"So they can choose to tell the truth or follow the rules if they want to?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, exactly." Logan replied.

"He's amazing isn't he?" Judas sighed. Thomas visibly held back a laugh but said,

"Yeah, yeah he is." Patton giggled. He felt a little bad for him, seeing as he was so clearly taken with Roman and he and Virgil were very clearly together, but he knew he'd get over it and move on. Logan and Tom had struck up a conversation, Patton noting that Tom was very calm for the embodiment of chaos.

"So Pat, when do you think-" Thomas was cut off by Princey's voice from the other side of the door saying,

"Mother f-" And a loud 'thump'. Everyone in the room was dead, silent, watching the door. It slowly began to creak open, and on the other side was Roman and Virgil. Virgil's face was arranged into a slightly confused expression, while Roman was glaring at him ever so slightly. His glare disappeared, however, and he smiled brightly at everyone. "Brought Virgil back guys!"

"Woo!" Thomas cheered.

"Yay! Hi, Virgil!" Patton gushed, though he was definitely confused at their actions. Logan cut off from his conversation with Tom, and rose to greet them.

"It was brought to my attention that I may have caused you slight emotional pain." He said to Virgil, guiding him back in. "I would like to offer an apology as it was not my intention to do so. You do your job well, and I did not aim to 'throw shade' with my comment." Virgil snorted at Logan's attempt to use one of his flashcard vocabulary words and smiled slightly.

"It's fine." He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I overreacted, I should've known you weren't talking about me.

"Hey Teach, is Pat good enough to move to the commons yet?" Roman asked, raising up two DVD cases and smiling brightly.

"If Patton can stand without feeling ill, then I see no reason he cannot transition to the common area. So long as we do not apply too much stress to him, that means be calm and try not to yell." Here, Logan looked sharply at both Remus and Roman. Patton giggled again, and sat up on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs over the side. He waited for a moment to see if the dizzy feeling from the day before would come back, but it didn't. He beamed up at Logan.

"I think I'm good to go!" He said cheerily. "But… if someone could throw me a shirt, I'd definitely appreciate it." He blushed again.

"I got you, Compadre." Roman said fondly. He traced out the basic shape of a shirt and suddenly was holding one. It was a white T-shirt with a blue heart on the front. He tossed it to Patton, who nearly dropped it twice, then pulled it on over his head.

"Thanks kiddo!" He said happily.

"No problem, Patton." Roman said gently. He put his hand on the underside of Patton's arm in order to help him stand, but when he did, Patton felt the whole world shift beneath his feet. It wasn't the dizzy feeling again, this was what it felt like to fly very quickly upward, and then stop immediately, but he wasn't moving. Roman's smile seemed to be more fake the longer he looked at it. And the color around him seemed to fizzle and pop, and Patton realized. He was so stupid! This was another layer of wherever it was that he had gotten himself into. And the real Roman was here to save him again. This time, Patton swore to himself, he would not leave Roman's side. Roman locked eyes with him meaningfully. "You ready Pat?" He asked. Patton nodded firmly.

"Lead the way." He said. And suddenly his feet weren't on the ground anymore. He was in Roman's arms, who had revealed his grey, faded exterior once more and took off, out of the room. Someone yelled out his name, but Roman didn't stop running, and Patton chose to trust him. He tightened his grip on his shoulders and squeezed his eyes shut. Wherever Roman was taking them, he had to trust that it was where he needed to go. Roman would never lie to him in his right mind, that he was sure of. It was a few minutes before Roman stopped moving, and Patton opened his eyes again. They were in a very small, dark room and Roman was breathing heavily. He gently placed Patton back on his own two feet. He took a final deep breath, then straightened up, breathing normally again.

"I'm sorry Patton." He apologised with a sad look. "All of this is my fault."

"It's okay kiddo." Patton forgave him easily. "You couldn't really control yourself."

"Even so." Roman argued, If I had saved you on the first level, we wouldn't have to go through all of this."

"What do you mean?" Patton asked, suddenly feeling like he was missing something.

"Now that we've gotten a second level deep, we can't just leave through the mirror again. We have to go all the way down. All the way to the afterwards." He said.

"What? But the afterwards can't be real. We don't die." Patton pointed out.

"No, but we fade. Remember, Logan believes the afterwards is true… we figured out this layer thing together one night when neither of us could sleep. Remy even tested it out, said it was true, it was the only thing that made sense to us, and we're convinced it's the truth."

"So… do you know what it will look like all the way down, or even how far that is?" He asked nervously.

"No." Roman admitted. "But we have to try, it's the only way we'll get back to the others." Patton nodded.

"How?"

"I have an idea." Roman said after a second. "There is one thing we know will be down there. Your crown. So if I hold on to you, and you follow your own feeling, we should be able to find it. You should be able to take us right to it, and I can get us back from there."

"Are you sure?" Patton asked.

"No." Roman replied. "But it's the only chance we have." Patton nodded again. They had to do this.

"Breath in slowly." Logan instructed. He was sitting cross legged, with the straightest posture possible. Thomas and Virgil were facing him, also cross legged with good posture, their hands in their laps. They did as they were instructed and slowly inhaled. "Good." He waited for a second longer. "Exhale." They did, slowly letting out their breath. "Keep in mind, that breathing should actually come mostly from the diaphragm. Your stomach should be rising and falling more than your chest." Anya walked into the room they were practicing breathing exercises in with a plate of fruit and cheese slices.

"Hey guys!" She said brightly. Logan opened one eye.

"Hello, again." He acknowledged her with a slight smile. He closed his eye again and continued his deep breathing. Thomas gave a half-hearted smile to her.

"They still haven't gotten back, huh?" She asked. Virgil opened his eyes.

"No." He grumbled. "They're probably not coming back at all." He scuffed his shoe into the carpet a few times, scowling at it like it had done him a personal injustice.

'Oh for the love of all things Crofters, will you stop saying that?" Logan snapped. Virgil flinched and Logan sighed. "I'm sorry, but them being gone is hard on me too, okay?" Virgil nodded.

"I'm sorry too, I just can't help but always think worse case scenario." He said quietly. "I just want them back." Anya frowned.

"So… you guys are Thomas's emotions, right?" She asked. Logan nodded. "Yes we are, though I am less of an emotion and more of a cognitive function."

"Right, so… if we could somehow get Thomas to feel an emotion, would it draw them back?"

"Thomas can't feel those things, that's the entire issue. It will never work." Virgil huffed.

"Never say never, we must try!" Logan declared, shooting to his feet. Virgil gave him a shocked look.

"Since when do you think like that?" He asked suspiciously.

"It's a long story, but it involves; Remy, Caesar, a jar of mislabeled Crofters jam, and a room made out of black and white checkered tiles." He responded seriously. "It's a thrilling tale and I wish to do it justice."

"Did you just quote Albus Dumbledore?" Virgil asked blankly.

"Yes." Logan nodded. "Thomas, we need to inspire you!" He said. Thomas looked at him with a doubtful expression. "We need to get you thinking. An idea. Something, practically anything."

"Acid brain sex zombies." Remus popped up behind him.

"Ah." Logan said, unamused. "It's the Duke."

"Boo."

"Who the fuck?" Anya asked.

"I'll fuck just about anyone." Remus replied, wiggling his shoulders. Logan blinked, looked down at the floor, raised his hand up above his head, then looked back up again. He snapped his fingers and a thick cord shot up around Remus and wrapped around his mouth.

"Usually, I wouldn't want Thomas repressing anything, but having the duke as his only source of inspiration is not safe for anyone." He said crossly. "I apologise, Anya, I should have warned you, but I didn't think any of them would be irresponsible enough to do this." He explained.

"Oh, so it's irresponsible to talk to real people if you're a dark side, but just fine if you're a light side?" Nate challenged, rising up from the floor. "I see how it is. We're not perfect enough to fit into your little world huh? None of us are good enough for others to know about."

"I didn't say that." Logan said. "I meant irresponsible enough to try and tip the balance more than it has been already. Is it not clear that Thomas is suffering?" He gestured to Thomas who was currently sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest. There was a small 'pop' sound, and Kohan was sitting at his side.

"Panda, whas wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, it's fine Kohan." Virgil replied instantly, and Deceit rose up behind him.

"How many of these fuckers are there?" Anya asked Thomas. "No offence." She added hastily to Logan, who happened to be closest to her.

"Some taken." He admitted neutrally. "There are quite a few. For however many emotions people feel, there is one of us, and a few others like myself, the Duke, or Deceit that are not emotions, but are cognitive functions. "Of the sides that have specifically made themselves known, there are 13 including the one responsible for Thomas's sleep cycle. However, it is typically accepted that there are quite a few more." Anya blinked.

"Wow, really?" She asked. Logan nodded.

"Why is it that Thomas has given us permission to show ourselves?" Judas asked.

"He needs his friends to understand what is going on right now." Logan answered.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on." Virgil said suddenly. "Did you just say friends? As in plural? You told other people? Have you lost it?"

"Virgil-" Logan began, but Virgil was murmuring to himself, clearly unable to hear him.

"What's up with him?" Anya asked, concerned.

"He's afraid." Chaos appeared suddenly by Logan's side.

"This is true." Logan conceded, inclining his head. "Things are getting a little out of hand." He added, watching with concern as Thomas dissolved into a panic attack.

"Everyone's going to hate me." He choked. And that's when Logan realized. He was sad. There was only one side that could make Thomas switch between happy and sad.

…

…

…

Patton was near.

"Wait!" Patton cried, stopping dead in his tracks.

"What is it?" Roman asked immediately. Gazing around as though worried they may be being followed.

"Thomas! I can feel him, he's here somewhere." He said joyfully.

"That's not po- wait! Patton we're getting closer, this is the last layer." He said, smiling brightly.

"Roman, we made it!" He exclaimed, hugging the fanciful side and smiling just as big. But then he stopped, and he realised. "If we go back, won't you lose all your color again?" He asked.

"It'll be worth it." Roman said bravely. "Logan said he may be able to fix me, and Thomas will be at least mostly okay again anyway. Besides, we both promised Virgil, didn't we?" Patton nodded. "Let's find that crown and get the fuck out of this hell hole." Roman growled.

"Language." Patton chided. "What's so special about the crown?" He asked.

"Well, if Lucius's is anything to go by, then it holds power over Thomas's mind. It's our way out of here, and it's the way to restore balance. You might even be able to give me my color and feelings back." He replied.

"Then we need to find it." Patton agreed. The looked around. The layer they were on was dark and echoey, just like the others after the second layer were. Roman thought that it may have been because Patton went into them, knowing that they were fake, because that's how Roman had seen the first two, as well. There was almost nothing. Just darkness. No feeling of a floor or ground. It was like hanging off of the monkey bars and being just not quite able to reach the ground with your feet, but it was very off putting without the feeling of holding on to something to keep you there. They held onto each others' sleeves so they wouldn't get separated, and walked around the vast, empty nothingness until… they saw a light. Two actually. Gently glowing,soft blue, and dimly pulsating indigo. They picked up pace, speeding toward them, they were so close.

There were two crowns. One was clearly meant for Patton. Pastel green vines, flowering with delicate-looking blue blossoms shaped as hearts, glowing with a sparkling, shimmering aura, and rustling as though a gentle breeze was passing over it. The other was actually incredibly basic. Just a silver crown with a bird etched into it. Nothing special.

"Logan." Patton said, looking at it. "We should bring it to him. It's his." He was sure of it. It was supposed to go to him.

"Okay." Roman conceded. "You take yours, I'll bring this one with us, we'll give it over to him then." Patton picked up his crown and placed it on his head. Roman picked up the silver crown in both hands, extending his elbow for Patton to grab hold of. Patton grasped his arm.

"How am I supposed to work this?" He asked.

"I don't know!" Roman wined. "I don't know how this is supposed to work, we only even thought it would be down here. I didn't even know!"

"Well, we're going to have to find some way to get home." Patton said. Just as the words left his mouth, the silver crown in Roman's hands began to buzz and hum, vibrating and glowing brighter. The ground began to shake, everything began to spin, shifting. Patton clung closer to Roman, and it started to feel as though they were sinking through the ground.


	29. The Shortest Chapter

Chapter Twelve

The Shortest Chapter I've ever Written

A hush fell over the room as Patton and Roman rose up from the floor. Anya excused herself, clearly aware of how uncomfortable the situation may become for someone out of the loop. It was a full second before anyone moved, and the first person to break the stillness was Roman. He walked forward, placing the crown he held in Logan's hands, then immediately swept Virgil into his arms. Virgil, looking shocked, gently draped his arms around Roman's neck. Logan and Patton's eyes met from across the room, silver clattering to the ground as Logan relinquished his hold upon the crown Roman had thrust into his hands. Patton was bounding toward him, arms open to envelop him in a hug, and Logan returned the hug tightly. He smiled a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like forever. He stepped back, maybe a little too quickly, but he was getting a little uncomfortable.

"Logan!" Patton gushed. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"And I, you, Patton." Logan said to him. He turned his head to look at the crown at his feet. Stooping to pick it up, he asked; "What on Earth is this?"

"It's supposed to be yours." Patton said resolutely.

"Who told you that?" Logan asked, confused.

"No one, I can just feel it." Patton declared, He made a face as though he expected to be shot down, but Logan regarded the crown for a moment.

"Well, if you say so." He said, shrugging slightly, placing it upon his head. Patton and Virgil both blinked blankly at him.

"You feeling okay Logic?" Nate asked, confusedly.

"Physically I'm fine." Logan responded, snapping his fingers to summon back the cords around the Duke.

"How about mentally?" Virgil challenged.

"Definitely questionable." Logan replied.

"That… can't be good." Thomas said.

"No… it's no different than usual, I just learned to stop pretending." Logan said casually. "Speaking of learning, who wants to know a fun fact about Wisdom?"

"I was going to say to shut up, but now I'm really concerned." Nate said slowly. "Like who the ever living fuck is Wisdom?"

"Exactly." Logan said, pointing a pen at him that he did not have in his hand before. "Who the fuck is Wisdom and why would Thomas have a trait that is, as Patton put it, a gem fusion between two traits? Lets take uh…. Patton, for an example. His basic functioning is like a mixture between Innocence and Virgil, but the word like here is paramount for this situation, because Patton does more than knowing the difference between right and wrong. A lot more. Wisdom claims to only be wisdom, the mixture of Patton and I."

"What the fuck does this have to do with your behavior?" Deceit asked exasperatedly.

"Nothing." Logan said plainly. "I changed the topic, but now everyone is too interested in this to interrupt me, besides you because you already have an idea of what's going on. You just haven't thought about the implications." Deceit shook his head in an annoyed fashion. "So, as i was saying, Wisdom cannot be just purely wisdom. He either is not wise enough to see this, meaning that he is not wisdom and is unintentionally misleading us, he knows he's not wisdom and is purposely misleading us, or he is purposely hiding aspects of himself. Either way, he is not the side we think he is."

"When the fuck did you come up with this idea?" Virgil demanded.

"I've had a lot of time to think while I was forcibly separated from everyone. I was literally trapped within my own mind, thinking was about all I could do." He replied.

"Wait what?" Thomas asked. Nate burst into laughter.

"That almost sounds like you got put in the-" He stopped short at the look on Logan's face. "Oh my god, he didn't!" He sounded appalled. "Oh god, are you okay? Holy shit."

"Wait, what are we talking about?" Virgil asked, allarmed.

"Lo, why is Nate so worried, what happened to you?" Patton asked, teary-eyed.

"Wait… are you saying that Caesar…" Deceit was cut off by Virgil growling;

"What the fuck did Caesar do to you?"

"Oewhe, that thing." Remus said. "Damn Logan, you're badass if you survived that. I'm impressed. I went through that thing, and let me tell you… yikes." He laughed. "I'd rather gouge my own eyes out with a serrated spoon and eat them then go back in there again."

"Oh, that's what happened to you. Dear god." Logan raised his eyebrow at Remus.

"Logan, what are you talking about? What happened to you? Tell us." Thomas demanded.

"It's not quite easy to explain." Logan began, slowly.

"What?" Remus asked incredulously. "Yes it is, you just lack imagination."

"If you start singing, I swear I will drop kick you and I'm fucking serious about that." Logan snapped. Remus rolled his eyes.

"I suppose you deserve to know where I was, so I'll explain. One moment though." He cleared his throat, took off his crown, and made the motion to summon someone. Instantaneously, Lucius, Remy, Picani, Caesar, and Winston rose up from the ground, very confused. "Everyone sit down." Logan said invitingly. Lucius, Remy, and Nate remained standing.

"Make me." Nate and Remy both challenged.

"Fine." He replied, making a shoving movement with his hand. All three of them fell to the ground as though they had been pushed down by the shoulders. "Anya, would you like to hear the story?" Logan called. Anya poked her head through the doorway.

"Yes I do." Logan waved her in and she plopped down on her couch.

"Okay, explain." Virgil ordered crabbily. He was perched somewhat stiffly on Roman's lap. Logan nodded.

"Very well…"


	30. PART THREE Story Time

"I apologise Thomas, but I cannot resist saying this…

Story time!

I had never felt more betrayed in my life… well actually I did once, but to be fair Virgil was only acting like he had betrayed us in order to save us all. Now, though, this was all too real. In hindsight, I should've seen the betrayal coming. Remy is a powerful side, probably the very strongest, and technically not really even a side at all. I would have trusted him though, did trust him a lot actually. I had opened up to him quite a lot since I started experiencing night terrors awhile back. Well… that showed just how bad at judgement calls I truly am. Remy was always blatantly honest and always spoke his mind. Brash? Yes. But to me that just made it feel less likely that he would ever hide anything from anyone. I would never have guessed he'd do something like this. Or that he would be involved with Caesar in any way, but here they were. The day I went missing, I had fallen asleep in the living room. That isn't very typical for me, and moreover, I had another nightmare. An awful one. When I woke, Patton had Logan in his arms and they were talking about Virgil, whom had allegedly been attacked."

"Wait what?" Virgil asked, as Roman's arms tightened around him.

"Well hold on a minute, I'm getting to that. I knew that something was off the second I realized "Patton" was harming Kohan. Patton would never hurt a child, or anyone for that matter. I was proven right, just as I usually am, when I had touched the fake Patton's hand. I was subjected to a torrent of horrible visions, but I was able to see through the guise in the blanks. The living room was upside down, grey, radiating cold dread. Kohan was bleeding profusely from his eyes, ears, and nose, but smiling demonically.

When everything went back to normal, I was holding Caesar's wrist instead of Patton's. Caesar was whispering to me about a tower and a maze… something important, I was trying to listen, but I was pulled away by another vision. Patton was laying on the ground, clutching his bleeding arm, crying, begging for something, someone to stop. Roman was standing above him, his sword raised above his head, pointing downward toward Patton's face. Virgil was behind them, tied down onto a throne-like chair set in black and purples, crying and screaming, begging for Patton's life. Remus laid on the floor at Virgil's feet, blood pouring freely from his stomach where his own mace was stuck into his flesh, fragments of what looked like Lucius's crown embedded into his face and scalp. Nate was hanging from the ceiling, a noose around his neck, his eyes open and glassy. A side was sitting in the corner, his face twisted and warped inhumanly, blood seeping from folds and cuts, looking like a more grotesque version of a creature from a horror show series Virgil watched, called the Look See. I could only tell it was Tom because of his bulky, spiky armor. Lucius was stuck onto a wall by a large spike through each of his shoulders, his toes barely scraping the ground, his head slumped over to the side. I watched in horror as Roman brought the sword down, and Patton stilled, small choking noises escaping as the blade first punctured the delicate tissue and brittle bone of his temple, and Virgil let out a bone-chilling scream of anguish and a violent sob, but seemed as all strength had left his body as he slumped over in his restraints, shaking. I had nearly thrown up at that vision, but was brought back to reality with a sharp tug when I heard Caesar speak again, but this time, to Remy.

"We can't do this." Caesar said softly, his hands coming up to rest on Remy's shoulders. "Rethink for a minute."

"It's too late for that babes." Remy replied, looking at him judgmentally over his sunglasses. He made a fist down by his knee and began pulling rope and cloth from thin air. Realizing what was happening too late, I attempted to run; but before I could get my superhuman speed to activate, something wrapped around my legs. A thick, white cord snaking its way around my body.

"I'm sorry Logan." Caesar whispered, and before I could reply, Remy leapt forward wrapping the cloth around my face.

The least they could have done was knocked me out, but no. I was wide awake, unable to move or make any more than a grunt as they slowly, unnecessarily slowly, carried me by my feet and hands to wherever we were going. With no way to struggle free or do anything practically, I resigned myself to trying to keep count of where they were by how far away the stability and safety of my room felt. I could tell that they were traversing through Thomas's mind and not the real physical world. That at least was comforting. If I got free, even if I was too far away from Thomas's consciousness to sink out, I could still follow the pull of my room. But just as that thought settled comfortingly in my mind, I heard a door open and close and the pull of my room was gone. My feet were dropped and I heard Caesar say;

"Be careful, you're going to hurt him." In response, I heard Remy's voice.

"He's fine babes, Logan's tough." My upper body was slowly and gently lowered to the ground.

"Once Five minutes go by without you moving, the ropes will fall away, okay Logan?" Caesar said quietly and softly. I did not respond. Looking back on it, I wished I had. That would've been more interaction. Maybe I could have even been able to convince them not to do this. But I did not.

They left me alone in the room, bound and unable to see. I struggled against the ropes for as long as I could. It wasn't that I forgot what Caesar had said, but I knew it was utterly ridiculous to think that the rope would just fall away, but the harder I struggled the tighter the ropes squeezed around me, and so I gave up. I relaxed my muscles, taking deep shaky breaths, terrified of the situation I had found himself in. My very worst fear has always been not having any sort of control. My mind started to race. Logically, my main focus should be to try to get out of the ropes. To do that, I knew I would need to apply as much force as possible to the smallest amount of area possible. That meant I couldn't do it tired. I decided I would rest for roughly five minutes before returning to my struggle, but my rest would be productive too. I would figure out where to apply the pressure. I would need to be able to pull on an outside cord, the inside parts were wound too tightly, compressed too greatly. Someone of my strength would be incapable of breaking them. I need to pull on the cord with something with small surface area in order to get as much strength from the pull as possible. Preferably multiple small areas of contact. I inwardly groaned as I realized I was going to have to try to pull apart thick ropes with my teeth, but that would only work if I was able to worm my way down far enough to reach the ropes, and then there was the issue of the cloth hood covering my face and the cloth that had been shoved into my mouth. A door opened and closed, and I tensed at the sound of footsteps. They were light, small strides, most likely a child. That was different. Kohan was the only child currently existing in Thomas's mind. If this was Kohan, that would mean Virgil was near. If Virgil was here, he'd cut me free and we could leave. If it wasn't Kohan… than who was it?

"Mr. Logan Sir?" It sounded exactly like Thomas had when he was little. Exactly. Not even a slight difference to it. Where Kohan looked sounded almost nothing like Thomas, this boy did sound like him. I would have wagered a guess he looked like him too. The hood began to rustle and came up off of my face. I was in Thomas's home, the kitchen to be more exact. Though something was slightly off. I didn't see a person anywhere, let alone a child, and there was another problem. There were no doors. I told myself I must have heard wrong and the hood just slid. Just as I thought this, I felt a small hand on my shoulder. I twisted and squirmed trying to see who was there, but there was no one. The ropes tightened around me again and I heard the door open. I looked wildly around for it, but there was none. However, there was Caesar now. He was standing in front of the sink.

"Leave Logan be, he'd almost won the challenge." Caesar scowelled. I once again, ignoring the ever tightening ropes, looked around for the small child that was in there. There was no one.

"Relax, Logan, it's okay." Caesar said gently, kneeling beside him and taking the gag out of his mouth. "The ghost can't harm you here."

"Let me out of here." I growled. "When Virgil finds out I'm here-" Caesar flinched at the sound of Virgil's name.

"He'll kill me." He finished the threat for me. "I know. Logan, this is for your own good. Besides, we're giving you a chance to escape. We won't even try to stop you." He seemed as though he was trying to convince himself that it was an okay thing to do. He looked just as uncomfortable as Patton does whenever Thomas lies. "So long as you don't cheat you'll be okay." He added.

"Cheat? What do you mean cheat?" I demanded incredulously.

"It's a game Logan." Caesar replied.

"I don't want to play a game right now." I snapped, "I should be out there helping look for your lost brother with the others. I don't have time for this." Tears stung at Caesar's eyes.

"Trust me Logan, if I thought you could find Roman, I would let you out, no matter what Remy said."

"Remy's forcing you into this?" I asked, beginning to feel maybe just the slightest bit of sympathy for the ex-dark side. Caesar nodded.

"I don't have another place to go." He replied. "And he promised we wouldn't be hurting you. It's going to be okay. Just a little game." The ropes fell away, and in a puff of smoke, Caesar was gone, and I was alone again. But I could move. I shot up to my feet and practically launched myself at the sink. If Caesar was there when I heard the door open, clearly there was a secret exit there. Hidden from view, Camouflage. I was smarter than any of the other sides. I told myself I could easily outsmart any ridiculous game these two could come up with. It was a minor inconvenience, and that was all. The first thing that caught my eye was the faucet. There was something off with it, but I didn't take the time to try to figure out what. I turned the faucet on, and was immediately sprayed in the chest with water, so I turned it off. There were two holes in the very edge of the top of the faucet, and not only that, but the water that came out correctly wouldn't even land in the sink because it stuck out too much. Clearly this had something to do with the exit. It was the only explanation for why it would be built so dysfunctional. I stepped back, wringing out what I could of my shirt as I did so. As I continued to think about his situation, I realized the holes in the faucet must be specifically to spray me and hinder me from getting out, keeping me away from the exit. Definitely Remy's doing. I rolled my eyes. Hoping that they could hear me, I called out;

"Oh, yes, very mature Remy."

"Lighten, up babes." Remy's voice rang out from the ceiling. "It's a game! Have a little fun, laugh a bit, huh?" I snarled, stepping to the sink again, running my fingers along any cracks or edges that looked even slightly suspicious. I had to beat their stupid escape room so I could get back. I was important to both Thomas and to the search for Roman. I couldn't be out of commission right now. I felt something click beneath my fingers and smirked. I had found it. Any moment now the door would open. I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Then the sink began to rumble and I threw myself back. I expected it to move. Maybe down, maybe up, maybe swinging open like a door, or maybe even splitting apart and opening that way. It didn't. It rumbled for awhile and began to turn green. It was turning green.

"What in the name of-?" I began to murmur, but I was struck dumb when grass and flowers began to grow on its surface.

"Caesar, knock it off!" I bellowed, angry that they were toying with me the way that they were.

"Sorry Logan, it's part of the game." Unlike Remy's voice, Caesar's was gentle and apologetic.

"This is ridiculous!" I huffed. "Grass doesn't just grow on a clean and sturdy sink in 30 seconds!"

"It does here, Babes." Remy's laughing voice said. I rolledImy my eyes. Just great, I was going to have to deal with sporadically growing plants too. The set up of the room was very similar to Thomas's kitchen. So much so that if I put my back to where the door normally was, I probably wouldn't be able to tell that I wasn't there. That scared me a bit. I knew full well how fickle the human brain was and, loathe as I am to admit it, I am human- or, at least I function as one. I knew that if I was trapped in a place just like Thomas's house for too long and got out, that I wouldn't necessarily believe that I got out at first. I might never. So I had to get out quickly. The exit had something to do with the sink, I knew that, so I decided to center my search there. The grass definitely threw me off my rhythm, if grass grew in 30 seconds on a perfectly solid counter, who knows what else those two came up with. I wasn't excited to find out, that's for sure. Searching the tiles and the small stones that had replaced them in the grassy portion, I came across another trigger. I pressed it and jumped back again, unsure of what kind of traps could have been laid. The same rumbling sound happened and the grass and flowers seemed to sink back into the countertop, returning it back to the way it was.

"What the fuck?" I mumbled. I shook my head. I didn't have time for this. It was highly unlikely that they didn't restrict me from being able to sink out, but I had to try. I attempted to sink out twice. It did absolutely nothing.

"Don't bother with that, Logan." Caesar said gently, his voice echoing softly off of the walls. "It won't work." I was pissed now.

"I'm not playing your game, okay?" I huffed. "Let me out now. I need to get back, Thomas will die without me, and that means you will too."

"Nah, he's got Virge, he'll keep him away from dumb shit." Remy's voice said flippiantly. I sat down at the table, crossed my arms, and clenched my jaw. They were like children, I reasoned with myself, they would lose interest in playing with me if I didn't react. If I did nothing, they would open the door and leave me alone. So I waited.

And waited.

And Waited.

I sat there for hours. It hadn't felt like it, but the clock on the wall had said it was, and the second hand was moving in the rhythm of seconds, so it hadn't been tampered with. I've always been stubborn, and right now I was more angry than I have ever been. I could not believe that someone I had dared to call a friend was holding me hostage and keeping me from finding Roman, it was my job after all, I was chief of intelligence, it was my job to find out if the dark sides had done something to him and I was not going to fail because Remy and Caesar were playing some dumbass game I didn't want to be a part of. The clock said it was currently 5:00, it would be PM because I arrived here somewhere around 2:00 PM. 3 hours of doing absolutely nothing when I could be doing any number of productive things, it was ridiculous!"

"Hold on a second." Virgil interrupted again. "This actually happened? Like, they actually kidnapped you and forced you into an escape room you couldn't figure out for almost a month?"

"Yes." Logan replied, annoyed. "It really happened."

"Yeah, it did." Remy nodded, taking a long sip of coffee. "It was for his own good."

"Like hell it was." Virgil replied angrily. "What the fuck is wrong with you two?"

"How about we hear the rest of the story before we begin making assumptions?" Winston suggested, gesturing to Logan. Logan glared at him, but continued anyway.

"As I was saying, the time I had spent in there was starting to wear on my nerves already. It had only been a few mind-numbing hours, but I think we all know how impatient I can be. However, I am also quite stubborn, and since I had dedicated myself to one specific plan, I was not going to abandon it until I was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was not going to work."

"So that's what you were doing that whole time." Remy said. "I thought you were just thinking about it way too hard or something." Logan rolled his eyes.

"How about you let Logan tell his story?" Caesar snapped. "It was your idea, the least you can do is listen."

"For once, I actually agree with him." Virgil snarled. "Shut the fuck up Remy."

"Shut the fuck up Remy." Remy mocked him. Virgil jumped to his feet.

"I cannot believe you're acting like this in this situation. You kidnapped someone and you're acting like you're three years old." Virgil growled.

"Calm down kiddos, how about we jus-"

"I'm sorry Pat." Virgil interrupted him. "But this isn't something that I can just brush off. Remy hurt Logan and he's acting like it was nothing!"

"Virgil, I'm alright." Logan attempted to soothe him.

"Are you?" Virgil challenged. "Because it doesn't seem like it. And it especially didn't when you first saw us by the creek." Roman too had risen to his feet, putting an arm around Virgil's shoulders and staring expressionlessly down at Remy.

"Apologise." It was a monotonous but threatening order. Remy glared back at him.

"Like hell, I have nothing to apologise for." He snapped.

"Can we please stop fighting?" Patton asked.

"Oh, great, look at that, now Patton's upset. Good job Virgil." Remy drawled.

"Oh what the fuck, Virgil didn't even do anything." Nate yelled from the corner.

"Can we please jus-" Judas began as Remy started yelling at Nate. Virgil then sprang to Nate's defence and Patton and Judas tried to quiet down both sides of the argument. This unorganized and chaotic yelling of course riled up Tom and Remus who entered the argument yelling obscenities that were completely unrelated to any topic that had been brought up at both sides of the argument. Caesar was busy lecturing Remy on why he should be behaving himself, and it was clear that Lucius was beginning to be annoyed by the noise. Logan gestured to Winston and Picani to go with him over to Thomas and Anya, who were both sitting on the couch. The five of them all sat together as Picani and Winston worked together and attempted to soothe Thomas out of the panicked and overwhelmed state the argument had worked him into. Logan turned to Anya.

"This is why balance with our kingdoms is essential for Thomas's mental health. If a rule or formality is broken, this is often times the result." Anya frowned.

"This has got to be awful for him to deal with on a regular basis." She said.

"It would be." Logan admitted, nodding his head. "Typically this will not or does not occur. The dark sides and the light sides have only really begun fighting recently. And other aspects that do not actually belong to one side or the other have joined in the fray, like Remy has. It's complete and utter pandemonium now, as you can see, where before one or two sides at a time may be causing a problem, and usually it was unintentional." Anya nodded slowly.

"So what's happening to him?" She asked.

"If I knew that, everyone would be being lectured on it." Logan replied seriously. "I don't think any of us have the slightest clue. And in all honesty, I don't think what's happening to Thomas is natural." The silence after the last words he spoke was thick and tense.

"What do you mean by 'not natural'?" Virgil asked slowly after a long moment. "Do you think he's sick or something?" Logan shook his head.

"I do not. I have reason to believe that outside forces may be at play." He replied. "What I'm trying to say is… Thomas is cursed." Another long, loud silence followed. This time, it was broken by Wisdom.

"That's ridiculous Logan." He said gently. "Do-do you need a moment to lie down? After all, you have been through quite an ordeal."

"I'm fine." Logan snapped moodily, staring suspiciously at the wise trait.

"Lo, I don't think you are." Patton said, concerned. "I mean… magic? Curses? You don't believe in that kind of stuff."

"Opinions change, Patton." Logan replied to him in a voice much softer than he had used with Winston. "Think about it for a moment. We can't be the only ones capable of using some sort of superhuman powers. Caesar and Roman use something akin to magic, and we know it can affect the physical world around us, who's to say we are the only ones like us?"

"I guess it makes sense." Thomas said quietly. "I mean… almost 8 Billion people on Earth and I'm the only one to go through something like this? It wouldn't make sense. Virgil shifted uncomfortably.

"So you actually think that someone else with sides cursed you to be miserable? That's kind of far fetched… ew, why am I doing your job Logan?" He said. Logan sighed.

"Not necessarily someone with sides, who says we're the only creatures capable of magic? And maybe a specific side from a person we upset decided to act on their own? Maybe we didn't even upset them, and that specific side is just malicious and we were an easy or entertaining target. Maybe that's who the ghost is."

"This is a lot of guessing and maybes coming from you, Logic." Winston said, concerned. "Are you entirely sure you do not need to rest?"

"Yes." He replied firmly. "I'm fine." Someone knocked on the door in the distance.

"I'll get it." Anya jumped up. "It's probably Joan." Virgil cringed, shooting a worried glance to the entryway of the room. After a moment, they heard the door open, and footsteps approaching.


	31. TheyThem

Chapter Two

They/Them

After a tense moment filled with Virgil's intense aura, Anya came back into the room with Joan at her heels.

"Thomas are you-" They stopped cold in the middle of their tracks. "What the fucking hell?" They breathed. Thomas cringed. "What the fuck Thomas, you told her before me?" They asked.

"Actually… I wasn't going to tell her." Thomas said awkwardly. "Or anyone. Ever. Logan convinced me that I needed to because of some stuff that was going on."

"And I was correct. As usual." Logan added, adjusting his tie. "The situation became instantly less stressful the moment you were no longer worried about hiding it, correct Virgil?"

"Yeah… I guess so." He replied.

"See? Primary source. I was right." He said smugly.

"Maybe he really is okay." Virgil said.

"Hold up, what the fuck happened to Roman?" Joan asked.

"Oh him? He died." Tom said excitedly, sounding similar to the duke. Remus, in turn, smacked Tom upside the head with his mace, which he pulled out of nowhere.

"Hey! Only I'm allowed to be glad about my little brother's suffering!" He said crossly, swinging the mace back over his shoulder. Roman's sword made contact with it, causing an enormous clang to ring out through the room.

"You almost hit Virgil." Roman said in a voice that chilled everyone in the room to the bone. Indeed, Virgil had jumped back away from Remus's mace, which, by Logan's calculations, would have barely missed grazing his shoulder.

"Holy fuck, he's scary." Joan said. "Is this why you haven't been able to come up with ideas at all lately?"

"Most likely, yes." Logan cut in. "Now, I have a theory I'd like to run past you, because the others are doubting me."

"Wait what?" They laughed. "But he's the smart one isn't he?"

"Yeah, but something happened to him. He was kind of in the middle of explaining it, and we all got in an argument." Virgil shrugged in response. "He thinks someone cast a spell on us."

"The fuck?" They looked at Logan strangely.

"His explanation makes sense." Winston said fairly.

"Pardon me," Joan said to him, "but who the fuck are you?"

"Wisdom." He replied.

"Falsehood." Logan mumbled.

"Yeah so who is he then?" Joan asked the logical side, confused.

"That remains to be seen, but the idea of anyone having a side that encompases only wisdom is redicculous, so either way he's a liar." He replied stiffly.

"Maybe we don't ask Logan questions right now, I don't think he's feeling well." Patton said gently.

"You don't trust me." Logan said blankly.

"We- no, of course I trust you kiddo… I just don't-'' Logan held up his hand to silence Patton. Some sort of fleeting show of emotion flashed in his eyes as his face slid back into the listless expression he typically sported before he had gone missing.

"It's fine." He said flatly. "Don't hurt yourself thinking too hard, I don't care." And he sunk out. Logan went straight to his room and shut the door gently, locking it tightly. Why the hell was something this trivial making him feel like this? He already knew his idea would go over badly, and everyone else had voiced their concerns and doubts about it, either verbally or on their expressions, so why was it that when Patton expressed doubt it made him want to reach down his own throat and pull his own goddamned vocal cords out so he could never embarrass himself like that again? He threw himself down on his bed, and felt a small shock of pain shoot up his leg. He had left something in his pocket and forgotten about it. He knew what it was, though, and he didn't want to look at it right now. He took it out and blindly threw it across the room, noting listlessly that it landed somewhere near his bookshelf. He let his eyes travel around the other side of his room, trying to find something, ANYTHING, to distract him from the sensation filling up his chest. Now was not the time to be feeling strong emotions, he was fine!

"It's fine." Logan said flatly. "Don't hurt yourself thinking too hard, I don't care." And he sunk out, and he was gone. Patton shot a horrified look out to everyone else.

"I didn't mean to hurt his feelings." He whimpered. "Should I go find him?"

"No way." Remy scoffed. "You're not going to want to see him when he loses control."

"What?" Virgil snapped at him.

"Oh yeah, he's a mess right now, babes."

"Because you didn't let him out when you were supposed to." Caesar snapped violently at him. "I only agreed to any of this because you said no one would get hurt."

"Yeah, and no one did." He replied.

"News flash, Logan was hurt! In a lot of ways! And he's probably never going to be the same again!" He growled sharply. "You're a monster!" And he too left. Remy crossed his arms.

"What did you do to him? It wasn't just one escape room." Nate challenged.

"You're sure as fuck right about that." Remus agreed, nodding so rapidly his head appeared ready to literally fall off. Thomas looked to Joan and Anya.

"While they sort this out, you want to take this to another room so we can hear ourselves think?" He asked nervously. Anya nodded, and led them out of the living room.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time." Virgil snapped. Winston watched with a cool disdain as Nate, Virgil, and Roman cornered Remy, Roman's sword centimeters from his throat. Remy's stance became even more defensive and upset.

"I don't have to stand here and take this bullshit." He sneered. He was still for the moment, then looked down. "Wait, why can't I sink out?" Winston scoffed, standing up from the couch, and making his way over to the circle.

"I believe that's Logan's way of seeing to it that justice is served. And I, for one, agree. Remy, you and Caesar both need to face up to the consequences of your behavior, there is no excuse for what you did." He said serenely, gaining an appreciative look from both Virgil and Patton.

"You don't even know what-"

"Yes I do." Winston interrupted sternly. "And there is no excuse."

"There is though! We were helping him!" Remy snapped, setting his coffee down on the small table that was next to him. This simple act, just setting down the beverage, had both Nate and Virgil throwing themselves backwards out of his way. Even Roman had shifted his position to a defensive one, and Patton was shuffling backwards ever so slightly by the time he was standing up. "Logan," He began, "Was crying for help, and none of you heard him. We did, and we did what was necessary to help him, whether he realizes it yet or not." Picani, who had shot to his feet when the others were backing away, approached Remy slowly, his hands out as though he were approaching a wounded animal. When he spoke, it was with a soothing, calming voice that Winston longed to someday achieve.

"Remy, sit back down, please." Remy turned his furious glare on the therapist figment.

"Do not try to talk me down from this." He sneered. "I'm not wrong!" Picani gently began steering Remy away from the others and to a large armchair a few feet away.

"And we're going to listen to you, I promise. Just take a breath. You can't fight your way out of this situation, it'll make everything worse." He said, as Remy sat down in the chair with a huff. Picani gently placed the cup of iced coffee back in Remy's hand and perched himself on the arm of the chair. "Take a breath, and I promise we'll give you the chance to explain, okay?" He soothed him. Remy followed his advice and took a deep breath, letting it out in a quick, irritated puff. "There you go. Now why don't you explain to us your version of what happened?

"Fine." He took a sip of his coffee and started his story. "Logan was telling you the truth about what happened. I mean, of course he was, I don't know if Logan can purposely lie, I mean facts right?"

"So you aren't denying you kidnapped him?" Virgil asked slowly.

"No of course not." Remy waved him off. "I'm not aboutta call him a liar." Virgil visibly relaxed. "Anyways, like I was saying, yeah, Caesar and I kidnapped Logan, but what happened before that is just about as important as what happened after. Did any of you guys think to ask yourselves where the hell Caesar could have possibly gone after the light rejected him? Think for a second, there's a total of two places that aren't controlled by either the light or the dark. One is the grey domaine and you sure as hell know he didn't go there. So where do you think he went?" The gathered sides looked around uncomfortably at Roman, then back at Remy.

"Into a butthole?" Remus blurted, getting swatted by Virgil. Remy gave him a look of incredible unamusement.

"The carcass of a decaying wildebeest." Tom said seriously.

"That doesn't even make sense." Virgil said.

"What about you Sensei Wise-ass?" Remy asked, looking at Winston over the top of his glasses.

"I would assume he would have gone to the chaos rift, but the likelihood of him surviving there would be minimal on his own." He replied.

"I have a whole ass rift in Thomas's head?" Tom leaned forward, putting his chin in his hand.

"No asshat, it's my rift actually. You didn't even really exist then." Remy snapped. "Anyway, yeah, he went to the chaos rift. I guess he could've hidden somewhere in the inbetweens, but I don't think he has that kind of power, so that was kind of his only option. And you're right, he should've died, but I found him before the others did, and I decided to take a chance on him. I brought him up to the dream spire and-"

"Hold on a second." Nate interrupted.

"What the fuck Nate?" Remy asked.

"Where the hell is the chaos rift, what is it, who are the others, and why the fuck would they be strong enough to kill Caesar? He was our strongest guy before he left, and what the ever living fuck is a dream spire?" He asked in rapid fire succession.

"Chill, babes. I'm getting there." He said, holding up his hand and making a shooing motion. "I don't know how you guys don't know what the chaos rift is, but it's kind of like if there was just a rip in the sky and it's just basically outer space. There's ground and stuff, but like, you can't tell the difference between that and anything else around you unless you find a building. The sides that aren't really sides, like me and probably Logan, come from there originally. Deceit could probably survive there too, but most can't. You'd most likely be ripped apart, and if you still had any sort of meat on your bones it would be torn off by the solar winds so… yeah, not a great place for normal sides. The inbetweens are probably worse to try to live in. Only the rulers of Domains have the power to create anything in the inbetweens, or use powers at all. Emotions can't really survive in the chaos rift. Like at all. The solar winds would rip the flesh right off your bones. Only things like me or Logic would be able to survive there. You know, the things you're automatically born with. We change and grow and all that shit, but we can't go away, not even in the chaos rift."

"Then how did you block off Logan?" Patton asked, tilting his head to one side.

"He wasn't fully blocked off." Remy shrugged. "Thomas could still open doors and use silverware and all that stuff you teach yourself as a baby. The only way to get rid of logic is by your literal physical brain being destroyed. Stuff like dementia will do it I think. You'd have to ask Logan, but I think some parts of logic survive even that."

"So… Logan can't go grey?" Virgil asked slowly.

"Kind of… but not the way you think. He's been his equivalent of grey for a long time." Remy said, crossing his legs and sipping his coffee again.

"What do you mean?" Virgil asked, allarmed.

"I'm pretty sure he committed suicide, but I don't know what happened. We couldn't get him to talk about it. Even towards the end. One of you might be able to get through to him though." He shrugged.

"What are you talking about?" Virgil snapped.

"I think we would have known if Logan died." Patton said slowly and softly. "I know Logan, I would have noticed a difference even if he doesn't go full grey."

"But you didn't." Remy said. "Maybe you were too concerned with Deceit's first appearance to Thomas. Maybe you just didn't know him enough by then. But Thomas got more confused, and Logan stopped smiling. He became prone to violent outbursts with almost no warning. He became angry or frustrated easily, and showed almost no other emotions. Ever. And Thomas almost never has any idea what's going on anymore. Was Logan still doing his job, even in death? Yeah. He was. He's cool like that. But a ghost of Logan isn't Logan, and Thomas was suffering. So was Logan. Before Caesar came to the dream spire, I didn't know what to do about it. I was overworked already. Want to know why I'm gone all the time? I'm doing my jobs. I control Thomas's energy levels, I make him sleep, I design his dreams, run them through, keep him alert. I do everything you guys don't. I didn't have time or the ability to help, and you were doing nothing. There was no way to fix anything. And then Caesar showed up. His powers had somehow become raw, moldable, so I gave him the job of creating and managing Thomas's dreams. That gave me enough time to figure this shit out. I realized that if Logan was to feel extreme emotion for a long period of time, it could bring him fully back to life again, even if it was negative. I found out about Caesar's maze, and we went from there." He leaned back, sliding down in the chair a bit. "If you try to find fault in either of us, I'll fight all of you." Roman's arm shot protectively in front of Virgil. "But especially if you try to do something to Caesar. He owed me a life debt. He didn't have a choice."

"Okay, fair enough." Nate said. "But that doesn't explain what happened to him at all."

"Ask Remus. He went through the maze before, I haven't. I don't know what it's like." Remy shrugged. "I only know what the maze does. It gets in your head, reads your thoughts, takes the things closest to you and turns them against you. But I don't know how far it goes. I didn't even know the first room was a kitchen until Logan told us all. Caesar did, I guess, but I never saw." Remus shivered.

"It was so long ago." He said quietly, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. His eyes were wide, but their usual manic gleam was gone. His mouth was still open in a smile, but he wasn't happy. "I don't- It was real, some of it. Not all of it. I don't know. It was so long ago."

"You okay Dukey?" Nate asked.

"Clearly." Judas bit sarcastically.

"Remus, kiddo, how about we bring you back to your room?" Patton took ahold of his upper arm gently. "You can even stay in my room if you like, I just think you should lie down for a bit." Remus nodded absently. "I'll talk to him." Patton said softly to everyone else. "Logan, I mean. If he went through whatever did this to Remus. He needs just as much support. Maybe more if he really did kill himself before." Virgil nodded. Hesitation flashed across his face for a moment before he clenched his jaw. "Bring him to my room." He'll be more comfortable there, and the anxiety aura is mostly with me now so it won't make either of you panic. It might hurt him to be in your room right now." Patton nodded in agreement.

"Thank you Virge, I know how hard that was for you." And he and Remus sunk down, away from everyone else.

"Even if that brought Logan back to life… do you really think it was worth it?" Virgil asked darkly, getting to his feet. Roman followed suit. "I think both Remus and Logan both would rather have died then go through all that. I don't care if you were trying to help. You're a monster." He too sunk out.

Anya had brought Thomas and Joan to the second downstairs sitting room (It really was a big house) to talk things over.

"Thomas," Joan began, "Thanks for telling us about this. I know it's weird and scary as fuck, yeah?" They smiled at him.

"Yeah." Thomas agreed nodding.

"Oh, hi Virgil, hi Roman." Anya waved at the corner of the room. Virgil and Roman were standing there quietly.

"Get overwhelmed?" Thomas asked.

"A little." Virgil admitted. "Not why I'm here though. I would've just gone to the woods."

"Not your room?" Thomas asked.

"Nah, Remus is there right now. He's… not okay." Virgil took a seat on the window ledge nearest him. Roman chose to stand at his side.

"When is he ever okay?" Thomas asked with a slight uncomfortable laugh.

"I mean… worse than usual. Patton had him go lie down, I told him to go to my room." He brushed his toe across the carpet.

"Wow, Virgil, I'm impressed." Thomas said.

"Awe, good for you, getting out of your comfort zone." Anya said.

"Hey Joan, I've got a question for you." Virgil asked, and Thomas noticed the effort Virgil was making to take attention off of himself.

"What up?" Joan asked in response.

"You said you know it's weird and scary for Thomas to be dealing with us..." He hesitated. "Something Logan said earlier… well... do you know what it feels like, or are you just guessing?"

"What do you mean?" They asked, the confusion on their face didn't look quite right.

"Oh for fuck's sake, just tell him!" A second Joan popped into existence behind the first.

"Holy crap." Thomas jumped. "Sorry. Wasn't expecting that." Joan flinched slightly, making a face like he'd been hit over the head with a plastic baseball bat.

"Yeah… neither was I. They don't listen to me." They said awkwardly.

"Yeah I get that" Thomas said. "So who's this?"

"This is Creativity, their name is Austin." Joan gestured to them. Austin, who was dressed in authentic-looking silver knight armor and a long, deep purple cape. There was a large silver sword with purple and white worked into the hilt, hanging off his waist.

"Hi Austin." Thomas waved.

"Hi Thomas!" Austin beamed and waved back.

"Okay, I guess you all can come out." Joan called out. And then there were four. The two new ones were very clearly Logic and Morality. One was in a sharp-looking business type suit in shades of white and brown, with their hair slicked and combed back in a very unJoan-like and professional style. The other was wearing a large sweater that fell past their fingers in a very soft yellow color. They had a beanie on in the same color, and they were smiling brightly.

"Hi Thomas!" They trilled. "I'm Arden!"

"I like your name." Thomas said honestly.

"Thanks!" Arden gushed.

"Morality?" He guessed. They nodded excitedly. "And… Logic?" He guessed, gesturing to the other.

"Precisely." Logic nodded. They offered their hand to Thomas to shake. "My name is Aftan, pleasure to finally meet you."

"You too." He replied.

"Dang. Both of my best friends have like legit super powers, and I'm just kinda… here." Anya said, sounding almost just slightly bitter.

"Nonsense." Aftan said stiffly. "Neither Joan nor Thomas could properly function, or accomplish the things they do without the support of you and their other friends behind them. Human beings, loathe as I am to admit it, do run on emotions." Anya smiled.

"Thanks." She said.

"Speaking of not functioning, where's Adrian?" Austin asked.

"Did you really expect them to come out without being prompted?" Aftan asked. They shook their head. "They're most-likely busy stressing over how Thomas and Anya will react."

"So Adrian is your anxiety?" Thomas clarified.

"Yup." Joan responded. "They're typically pretty chill but this is scary shit."

"I believe you." Thomas agreed.

"Adrian, come meet Virgil!" Joan said. "You always said you'd like to." Slowly, ever so slowly, Joan's anxiety side rose up. And they were adorable. They had on an oversized, grey sweater and black, baggy pants. They wore a black and grey striped beanie and had just a swipe of black eyeshadow under their eyes.

"Hi…" They started uncertainly.

"Oh my gosh, you're so cute." Thomas squealed. They blushed scarlet.

"No." They protested.

"Uh, yeah you are." Anya agreed. Virgil snortend.

"What are you laughing about? You're just as cute." Joan poked at him. Virgil too turned red.

"I- pu- I'm no- I hate everything about this." He sputtered, causing most of the room to laugh. Virgil's head shot up. "Something's wrong." He said. Not half a second later, the door to the second sitting room swung open and Patton was standing in the doorway, looking panicked.

"Thomas, you have to stop him! Logan's trying to go over to the dark sides!"


	32. Out of Place

Chapter Three

Out of Place

Logan kicked off his shoes, tossed his crown, and grabbed the nearest pillow, holding it over his head in an attempt to dull the rising ache. His thoughts traveled to the object he'd thrown across the room only minutes earlier, but he roughly shook off the thought. He knew he should never touch it again. He knew it was bad news. But that didn't stop the fact that his head was pounding, his hands were shaking, and it was the only thing that stopped the pain. Someone knocked on the door of his room, and he bit back a hiss of pain at the sound. He stood up and opened it, however, noting with some sort of strangled satisfaction that it was Patton, and he looked concerned.

"Lo, I'm so-" Logan signaled with his hand for him to stop, and he did so with a hurt look.

"No, I'm sorry. I was being immature." He said, watching the cute way Patton's eyes lit up.

"Having emotions isn't immature, kiddo." Patton told him. "I'm just glad you're opening up to us, and that you're at least mostly okay." He smiled.

"Maybe they aren't, but the way I reacted to them was." Logan continued. "I really would love to stay and talk, but I have a horrible headache, and the noise is aggravating it."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lo." Patton lowered his voice by quite a lot. Logan smiled slightly at the effort.

"Not to worry, Patton. He nodded at him and gently closed the door. And dear god did he want to slam it, but that only would have made everything worse. He took a step towards his bed, and his toe tapped something. He looked down at the pill bottle he had thrown earlier. He didn't need it. Shouldn't touch it again. Didn't want it. He picked it up and studied it for a moment. The sight of it sent a chill down his spine.

He'd been in the kitchen room for a few days by this point. He could not, for the life of him, figure out how to escape. He'd tried everything he could think of, and Remy and Caesar had stopped replying to him. According to the clock on the wall, and the tally marks he had scratched underneath it, it had been roughly 27 hours since he had last heard another person's voice, and he was starting to feel a small, cold sensation in his chest that he could vaguely label as hopelessness. He had refused to attempt to find food in that room for as long as possible, because he hated the idea of admitting he was stuck, but this was the third day. So he finally opened the fridge. It was stocked full of jars of jam, and Logan immediately knew something was wrong with what he was looking at. There is no way in hell that Remy and Caesar would have put his favorite food in there. It was obvious they were trying to break him. He took hold of one of the jars and turned it slowly around. It was Crofters, but Logan had never seen the label before. It read: Roman's Red Berry Jam. Confused, he picked it up. Underneath was a sticky note. He reached into the refrigerator and plucked it off the shelf. It read: "Your frustrated right?" Sure there were more notes, he picked up the next jar. "Your scared". Another jar. "Theres no escape". Another jar. "Your going to die". Another jar. "It isnt what it looks like". Another jar. "You cant see it". Another jar. "They will let you see". Another jar. "You cant leave without it". The last jar. There was no sticky note. There was a compartment door in the shelf. Looking to the shelf below, there was no room or place for a compartment to be. Perhaps it was shallow. There may be some sort of written clue on paper. He opened it and, to his surprise, there was a deep compartment, tall enough to fit probably another jar of jam, but too thin. There was a thin bottle of something he couldn't quite see inside. Both confused and curious, he reached in to grab it. When he pulled it out, his confusion increased. It was a pill bottle with no real label. Instead, a strip of paper was taped around it with the hand drawn label 'Literal Chill Pills'.

"What the hell?" He mumbled to himself. For the first time in far too long, Remy's voice rang out from the ceiling.

"Oh hey." He commented, surprised. "You found them. I didn't think you were going to find the ones in this chamber. Well anyways, you did, and you're going to have to take one of them."

"You are insane." Logan shot at the disembodied voice. "I have no idea what these could do to me, taking them would be idiotic at best. It could kill me!"

"Or it could save you." Remy replied. "I mean, I'd understand if you wanted to stay until everything blows over, I can't imagine how obnoxious Virgil and Patton are to be around when they're in this state, and you never really liked Roman."

"How dare you insinuate I don't want him back? Roman is a light side, part of the family!" Logan roared.

"But are you?" And that was the last time Logan would hear from Remy until he made it out of the maze. That was the last time for a long time that he would hear from anyone. He shouted and screamed, cursed and pleaded, but everything besides him was still and silent and unchanging and he couldn't take it anymore. He began tearing apart the kitchen. He wasn't even looking anymore, he was pissed. He picked up just about everything that wasn't bolted down and threw it as hard as he could. The pill bottle, utensils, containers, jars, stools, everything he could get his hands on was left in pieces, strewn on the floor, and he still felt powerless, trapped, useless. There was nothing he could do, and he hated not knowing what was happening outside the walls without him. He slid down the wall to the floor, his eyes on the clock. They had to let him go eventually. They couldn't keep him here forever. Minutes passed. Then hours. Then days. None of this was possible and he knew that. It wasn't possible for a human being to go this long without water. A human being couldn't go that long without sleep. He knew it, but the hands appeared to be moving at a normal speed, and he scratched a tick mark into the wall every time the hour hand went all the way around the clock. He counted them. 24. That was 12 days. But it wasn't possible. He would be dead. A helpless sob escaped his throat, though he tried to hold it back. This couldn't be happening. He was asleep. It was an awful, horrible nightmare. All of it. Another sob made its way forward, and Logan couldn't stop it. He dissolved into tears for the first time since he'd commited suicide. He'd ended his life nearly two years ago. He knew it would make everything better. Knowledge should never be tainted by emotions. Emotions and Logic were seperate beings all together, hence the existence of both him and Patton. But dying didn't work. He should have gone grey, he always knew about that theory, the idea that he would only be capable of protecting Thomas's intellectual mind and nothing else was amazing. He would finally be free from the cold tendrils of sorrow and self-loathing that constantly gripped his chest and Thomas would be better. But it didn't work. Logan could still feel, and all he could feel was the cold, and Thomas got worse. He knew he made a mistake but he couldn't admit it. Not to himself, not to the others, especially not to Thomas. All that would come of it would be pain for all of them. Virgil, likely, would be angry with him, it would feel like a slap to the face. Logan never had any struggles in his life, he was inherently in Thomas's limelight. Everyone always looked up to him as a strong leader and a force of good, and Virgil had to fight tooth and nail to be noticed. He struggled even harder to be understood as something that might not be inherently evil. And it took nearly just as much from there to be accepted as necessary and helpful. It would be as though Logan was telling him all of his struggles were small and inconsequential. Patton would blame himself. He'd feel as though he wasn't good enough for Logan. Patton placed himself in the role of the dad, and feeling that he was so awful at his job that one of his 'sons' killed himself would destroy him. He would cry and apologize, and Logan wouldn't be able to take that. The cold in his chest would drown him, and Patton would feel even worse. He'd make it his job to 'fix' him and bring him back, and every time something he tried failed, he would break all over again. He was fragile. Likewise, Roman would blame himself. He was the self-proclaimed hero of Thomas's mindscapes, he made it his job to save everyone. Friends, strangers, enemies. If he realized that Logan had died, and he had never done anything, didn't even notice, it would crush him. His confidence would plummet, and Thomas's in turn. Roman would fall into a similar loop as Patton, trying to 'save' him and failing, each time hating himself more and more, the whole time Virgil would be glaring at Logan with disgust, trying to convince Roman and Patton that it wasn't worth it, that they should leave him alone. They wouldn't listen, they'd continue on in their self-destructive loops. Virgil would fall back into his old, hate and fear fueled ways of protecting himself as he began to suspect that they hated him, and he'd likely run back to the dark sides for solace, returning as a hero for the chaos that was left behind him, something that he would hate himself for. And with all of that, Thomas would be left an emotional wreck. His ideas would be shot, useless, unoriginal. He'd cry and be overwhelmed at everything. His anxiety would spike at the smallest things, and Logan would be helpless to do anything. So Logan never told anyone. And now he was here. Maybe that's why he wasn't dying. He was too close to death as it was. Logic couldn't be killed, only muffled. He would be here until thomas died, and nothing would end his suffering. He allowed himself to look away from the clock. There was a sticky note on the counter directly across from him that he hadn't noticed before. It couldn't have been there before, everything that had been on that counter had been cleared off and thrown. The sticky note read: Take one and the pain will go away. With no other choice, Logan reached for the bottle.

Patton's voice brought him back to reality.

"Logan, kiddo. I heard crying, are you okay? Do you need me to bring you anything." He called softly through the door. It took Logan a second to realize tears were streaking down his face, the tracks stinging his cheeks. He had been crying out loud. He had slid down to the ground, his hand about to grasp the pill bottle in an exact mockery of what he had just been remembering. His breath caught in his throat, and he tore his eyes and hand away from the bottle.

"No Patton." He said, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure kiddo?" A small kind of pain erupted in Logan's chest at Patton's gentle, caring voice. He wanted to tell him what he was going through. He wanted to tell him that he hated himself, that he felt weak, that he had a sinking suspicion he'd become addicted to psychedelics he didn't even know the name of, that he felt emotion so strongly now than he did before that it was physical pain, that whenever Patton spoke it sent warm daggers through his heart. He wanted to collapse into his arms and allow Patton to hold him until it was no longer comforting.

"I'm sure." He said.

"Alright, Lo." He said softly. "Call me if you need anything, I'll be right here."

"Thank you." Logan whispered. And he hoped Patton could hear him.

"I love you." Patton said through the door. "Even if you don't believe me." Ice replaced Logan's heart for a moment. Patton knew. At least a little. Logan heard the first of hesitant footsteps backing away from his door. He wanted to call out for Patton. To ask him to wait. But he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth and by the time the footsteps could no longer be heard, the pain that Logan had been feeling earlier practically tripled. He bit back a pained groan and stuffed his fist in his mouth to stifle it. Fresh tears leaked from his eyes, and he leaned back against his door, terrified and in pain, hating himself for having this issue. He tried to level his breathing, but God it hurt. With shaking hands he reached for the pill bottle, fumbling with it as he tried to open it quickly as possible. Taking two of them out, he swallowed them down quickly, not bothering to get anything to wash them down with. He replaced the lid, getting to his feet shakily, waiting for the pills to set in. He threw himself back onto his bed. He was weak. Useless. But at least he was starting to ache less. He could not understand why he had wanted to come back to life again after he died. Now that he had, he couldn't stand it. It was pain, pure pain, and he remembered why he wanted to die in the first place. He was useless like this. He laid there, waiting, until a small sort of tingling numbness had spread through his entire body. After a moment or two, Logan had entirely forgotten why he was so upset. He felt good. Calm. He sat up. His room had shifted, it was slanted, to the point where he had to tilt his head to the side fairly far to see everything right side up. Standing straight was a bit of a challenge, it felt like he was sliding on the floor a little bit, so when he tried to walk forward, he stumbled a bit, but there was no little jolt of fear stumbling would usually give him. He still felt calm. A smile stole over his face, and he stumbled only once more while he walked to his bedroom door. He opened the door, walking out into the hall that connected his and Virgil's rooms. Both of them had rooms that bordered the light and dark domain. Logic Hall was very closely connected to what used to be Delusion Hall. That always worried Logan, but now, Delusion Hall was full of dust and cobwebs. He hadn't heard a noise coming from there since he appeared to Thomas, pretending to be a transformed Roman. Curiosity piqued, he slowly opened the door that connected their halls. He was right about the cobwebs. It was packed full of them. He shuffled his way into the hall, looking around. Besides the slant, the hall was perfectly normal, but like a really old castle. Logan looked down when he heard a small squeak by his foot. There was a small rat next to his foot.

"Hey." He said to it quietly. "I'm Logan, what's your name." The rat looked up, and its tiny mouth started moving rapidly as though it were chewing. "Sorry buddy, I don't speak garbage puppy." He tilted his head as the rat continued to chew the air. "Maybe you're just very quiet." He knelt down next to the small animal and slowly reached toward him to pick him up. The rat flinched violently and squeaked but allowed Logan to pick him up. "What's your name, small creature?" The rat began making small clicking sounds, almost as if he gnashing its teeth. "That sounds like a happy sound." Logan claimed, moving his arms to more of a cradling position. The rat scuttled up his left arm, settling on his shoulder near his ear, continuing to make his clicking sounds. "You are a very joyous small being." Logan commented. "I'll call you Daylyn." He decided. "Do you like that name?" The continuation of the rat's happy sounds was confirmation enough for him. "Alright, Daylyn it is." With Daylyn still on his shoulder, he moved deeper into the corridor. He heard footsteps coming from down the hall. Daylyn's happy noise cut off abruptly, and he scrambled down into Logan's shirt pocket, peeking his head out of the top. "Wonder who that is." Logan mussed to his new friend. It had been at least an hour since he stormed out of the conversation with the others, he was sure at least most of them were back in Thomas's mindscapes by now. It was, most likely, a dark side that was here. No light side would be wandering the Dark Domains at this point in time, and the Chaos Rifters almost never left the rift, with the exception of Remy. He supposed it could've been an outlander, the sides of Thomas's that have little to no effect on him and live in their own realm of the mindscapes away from the warring of Light and Dark, but they likely were far too scared to enter any of the kingdoms. If they were to enter any, it would likely not be the Dark Domain. Expecting a dark side, Logan strode toward the footsteps. "Oh, I was right, good day Lucius." Logan greeted the king of darkness. Lucius tilted his head ever so slightly to one side.

"Were you looking for me, Logic?" He asked.

"No." Logan replied casually, looking around.

"What are you looking for then?" He asked with a slight hint of curiosity.

"I'll know when I see it." Logan replied with honesty. He looked around. "I don't think it's here though." Lucius looked confused.

"Logic, you aren't acting yourself." He pointed out.

"Am I not? I hadn't noticed." Logan said, confused. The ground felt as though it shifted beneath his feet again, as the room turned completely on it's side rather than just being tilted. He lost his footing and fell against the wall, which was now in the position of the floor. Daylyn squeaked in alarm, but thankfully he hadn't been in the pocket on the side of Logan that collided with the wall. Disoriented, Logan attempted to stand on shaky legs.

"Logic, are you ill?" Lucius asked with a slight possible touch of concern. "And why is there a rat in your pocket?" Finally getting to his feet, but stumbling a few times, he considered the questions.

"I do not believe myself to be ill." He answered. "And as for the rat, his name is name is Daylan, and he is my new friend."

"You picked up a wild rat, named it, and put it in your pocket?" Lucius asked.

"No of course not." Logan said indignantly. "Who do you think I am? He climbed into my pocket himself, I didn't just force him there." He scoffed. Lucius gave him a critical, sweeping glance.

"You're high off your ass right now." He stated. "You have no idea what's happening, do you?"

"Well, I am probably high." Logan nodded. "You're only supposed to take one, I took two, and they're already weird. But I know what's happening. I'm standing in Delusion Hall with a rat in my pocket, talking to the personification of greed." Lucius laughed. His laugh was chilling and merciless, and though it was only him who laughed it sounded like maybe two or three sides were laughing alongside him.

"Yes, I suppose you are. But we really must ask ourselves what you are doing here, and why is it that Logic of all sides is the one to have drug issues." He drawled, leaning on the wall. It was a strange sight to Logan, because it looked as though Lucius wasl laying on the floor, his feet propped against the wall to hold him up.

"I take the pills because they keep the pain away." He replied. Lucius shook his head and tutted, his eyes taking on an eerie silver glow.

"Logan, how do you still think you're a light side?" He drawled in a silky voice, straightening and taking a step towards him.

"What?" Was about all that Logan could manage to get out. He felt even more calm and lethargic than before, as though he had taken four or five of the pills, something he had done before. Lucius made his way closer to him, slinking toward him, the glow becoming brighter.

"Look at yourself, Logan. You're a mess. You do drugs, you keep secrets, you lash out at the people you care about. You're one of us. Come home, Logan. Come to your true family." He reached his hand out for Logan to take. Almost of its own accord, his hand began to reach out to Lucius's. Just as their fingers were about to touch, Logan heard Patton's voice, full of concern and worry, asking him where he was. "Go tell him where you're going. Go tell your king you're leaving." Logan found himself nodding, and slowly moving toward the entrance to Logic Hall. Lucius's power seemed to lose hold on him as he neared his own side of the corridor, and the farther from him that he got, the clearer his mind became. He also found, however, that he didn't disagree with Lucius. He was addicted, after all, to drugs. He did keep secrets from the others. He'd killed himself before. He lashed out and purposely hurt people physically and emotionally if he started to feel cornered, even if they were people he claimed to love. He was evil. He was dark. And they didn't need him tainting the bright light that controlled Thomas's personality. He was useless here, but he fit with the dark sides. It all made sense to him now. He felt so useless and pathetic because he was, and always has been, quite simply, out of place.


	33. Cunning

Chapter Four

Cunning

Logan had taken the time to hug Patton goodbye. He thanked the caring side for everything he had ever done for him, and at first Patton didn't seem to understand what was happening. He cooed at Daylyn and told Logan his choice of name was perfect. He'd become flustered and blushed when Logan gave him his thanks and compliments on all the things he did for the light sides, and he seemed overjoyed when Logan hugged him. Logan almost didn't want to explain why he was mentioning all of this, but in the end, he'd taken Patton's hands in his, and told him that he couldn't continue to be a light side anymore. The tears that slid down Patton's cheeks were almost enough to change his mind. He explained to him that he had done nothing wrong, that he was the perfect ruler, the perfect friend. Logan explained that he was sad to leave, that he didn't want to, but if he remained a light side, Thomas would never get better, and he would only hurt the rest of them. Patton had begged him not to go, tried to convince him that Logan wasn't a dark side, but Logan couldn't believe him. Acting on a rare, spur of the moment decision Logan leaned forward and kissed Patton's cheek.

"I love you." He whispered.

"Then stay, please." Patton begged again.

"I'm leaving because I love you." He said softly. "I'm sorry, Patton." He turned and went back through the door connecting the Light and the Dark Domains, trying his very best to ignore Patton. He used his telekinetic abilities to keep the door shut behind him so Patton couldn't open it, knowing you couldn't sink in and out of Delusion Hall. He walked slowly toward Lucius.

"Are you ready to go home Logic?" He asked him, reaching his hand out once more.

"I'm not Logic anymore." He said simply.

"Oh?" Lucius questioned. "And who would that make you?" Logan opened his mouth to reply, but a loud bang interrupted him. Daylyn squealed in fear, curling up in a little ball, and Lucius tensed. Logan turned slowly, looking uninterestedly at the door.

"Logan you stupid-ass peice of shit, if you don't come talk to us I'm going to break this godamned door down and make you stay!" Virgil bellowed from the other side of the door. There was another loud bang and the entire door jolted, nearly coming off its hinges. Logan walked slowly towards the door with the intent of opening it for them. If they wanted explanations, he at least owed them that.

"Don't you dare." Lucius ordered him. Logan stopped, but looked over his shoulder at his new ruler.

"I'm coming with you, to live under your rule, I'm abandoning everything I've ever known, and I'm leaving the people who care about me. You are giving me a chance to explain, or I am not going." He said quietly. Lucius sneered.

"And just where the hell do you think you're going to go after pulling a stunt like this?" He demanded.

"I've heard the outlands are nice, the chaos rift always has room for one more, and let's face it, if I wanted to, I could live in the real world as a normal human being easily." He said coolly. "You will allow me to open the door, or I will do so anyways, and I will not be going with you."

"If you think they'll let you change your mind, your wrong!" Lucius snarled loudly.

"No, you're wrong." Thomas's voice said firmly from the other side of the door. "Lucius, let Logan through to see us now." And with a hiss of anger, Lucius turned and walked down the hall.

"Come find me when you've finished saying goodbye." He spat. "We have work to do." Logan ignored him in favor of opening the door. He was immediately plowed down by Patton grabbing him around the middle. Daylyn squeaked indignantly, and scuttled up to sit on Logan's shoulder. Patton was sobbing, and the sounds of it sent ice cold daggers plummeting through Logan's heart. Virgil was scowling at him and Thomas looked both scared and concerned.

"If you think for even half a second that we're going to let you switch to the Dark Sides, you're wrong. You aren't getting rid of us that easily." Virgil bit aggressively at him. But then his face softened. "I don't know what's going on with you." He admitted quietly. "But I know you're struggling. I know you killed yourself about two years ago. I know you just went through something traumatizing to get back. I know you're in pain. You have to talk to us. We want to help you."

"I can't." Logan shook his head.

"Why not?" Virgil pressed.

"I can't remember right now, but I know it's important." He replied.

"What do you mean you can't remember?" Virgil asked, clearly quite confused. "You remember dates and times of trivial stuff down to the second all the time."

"Logan, something's not right about you." Patton sniffed, finally stepping back from him just enough to give him his personal space back. "Before I was worried something was wrong. You were acting different. Now you just feel… off. Like something's missing, and I want to know what it is so I can help you."

"He seems different to you because he's under the influence of narcotics." A gentle voice said from behind Logan. Winston walked up next to him, studying him with pity."

"You mean he's high?" Virgil asked indignantly. "Ha, no way. Not Logan."

"Yes way, yes Logan." Logan murmured. Virgil was visibly shocked, as was Thomas and Patton.

"Why?" Patton asked him.

"It's all I can do." He responded. "Otherwise I'm in pain."

"Is this about the migraines kiddo?" Patton asked immediately. "There are other kinds of me-" Logan shook his head.

"Not that kind of pain." He said quietly. Patton's face collapsed into a look of utter pity that Logan could not stand. "I have to go. I can't stay with you anymore."

"You can though." Virgil argued, stepping towards him. "You can stay with us and we can help you." Logan shook his head.

"I don't expect you to understand. I'm not like you." He said.

"Damn it Logan!" Virgil growled. "This is not the time for your superiority complex to be kicking in. If you'd pull your head out of your ass for half a second you might realize that you're not the only competent person around here."

"Virgil." Thomas hissed.

"Don't you think I know you're competent?" Logan mumbled, slowly shaking his head. "I don't know where superiority complex came from, but I do not think I'm better than you." Virgil made a face like he'd had something large thrown at him. "I don't think I'm better than Patton. I don't think I'm better than Roman. I know I'm not better than you guys. I know I'm not better than Winston." He looked over to the wise trait, who looked just as shocked as everyone else. "Winston's better at my job than I am, and I'm falling apart."

"Logan." Patton whispered, his face crumpled into an expression that Logan hoped to never see on his face again.

"I'm not like you because you're better than me." He added. "I hurt the people I care about. I'm addicted to drugs. You already have someone that does my job better."

"Everyone makes mistakes. That doesn't make them bad people, nor does it make them less than their peers. You are struggling right now, that's true, but we can help you through that." Winston said. "And the most misguided thing you just said, was that I do your job better than you do. That is false. I am not Logic."

"And neither am I." Logan choked. "Not anymore. Logic died two years ago when he hung himself in his bedroom. Logic died when he was in pain for hours, trying to cry for help because he never stopped breathing. Logic died when the rope snapped and he realized that no one had ever come to help him. And Cunning was born when he finally made it out of the maze."

"Logan, you have every right to be mad at us for that." Thomas started.

"But I'm not mad." Logan interrupted him softly. "I was for a long time, but I'm not any more. What I did was selfish, and I deserved this punishment. Natural consequences. The natural consequence I have to face for hurting all of you, is not being able to be here with you any more." It seemed that Virgil had become so angry that he began to tremble.

"Logan that's bull shi-"

"I'll send word of a cure for Roman as soon as I figure it out, and I'll be working on it as hard as I can. Don't worry, I'm not going to just leave him like that. You don't have to be angry with me." He said. He took a step backwards.

"Logan, please don't go." Virgil begged him, lurching forward to try to grab his arm. Even in his lethargic state, Logan's powers made him faster than Virgil.

"I'm sorry." He said honestly. He tapped into his super speed as he spun on heel and shot off towards the deeper Dark Domain. He made his way to Lucius's throne room, sure that the ego maniac would be there. Sure enough he was, along with Remus, who was holding his mace and looking somehow both agitated and excited.

"Logan!" His voice was somehow crazed. It didn't sound like the spontaneous and flamboyant insanity the duke always carried, it sound purely deadly. There was no trace of regality or mischief, just ice and steel. Logan shrugged loosely and continued forward. Lucius glared down at him from his throne.

"You made an error Logan." He stated.

"Maybe so." Logan replied nonchalantly. "Though I'd argue an error made is merely an error avoided in the future, best to do it now than later."

"Hey, I like that one." Nate came walking in, alongside Judas and Tom. "So it's true then? Logic finally crossed over?"

"No. Not Logic. Logic died a long time ago." Logan said slowly.

"Pay attention, whelp." Lucius snapped from his throne. Logan slowly turned his attention back to the greed side. "We were prepared to welcome you with open arms." He began.

"But I disobeyed you, and now I must earn a position, simple enough." Logan finished for him. Lucius straightened further, scowling down at him. "I suppose Remus and I are going to fight for it then, correct? The loser gets thrown to the mercy of the other sides?"

"Precisely." Lucius replied.

"Well, then I won't fight." Logan replied.

"Excuse me?" Lucius snipped. "You don't have a choice."

"Remus has no real world impact, if he attacks me, I'll just choose not to be affected." Logan shrugged again.

"I'm sorry what?" Lucius arched his left brow. "That isn't nearly sensical. You do know that his attacks did not affect you before because you were as close to dead as you can become, correct?"

"Clearly." Logan stated exasperatedly. "That's neither here, nor there. This is about what is and is not reality. Reality is 98% perception, so if I simply perceive myself as not being attacked, there will have been no effect. The fight would be stacked entirely in my favor as I would be incapable of being harmed by speed or brute force, and let's face it, there's simply no way he would out wit me."

"Logic-" Lucius began.

"No." Logan said simply.

"Fine, then what are you?" Lucius snipped.

"You invented me, called me by name before." Logan replied. "Simply in a successful attempt to frighten Thomas, you've summoned a creature of darkness to do your bidding."

"Excuse me?" His posture stiffened visibly, and his face twisted into a sneer. Logan swept himself into a low bow.

"Simply said, sir: my name is Cunning." He himself heard the change in his voice, the hiss of winter and the trill of bells that hadn't been there before. The throne hall shifted beneath his feet, but he kept his balance, convincing himself that he was floating ever so slightly above the ground. Everything seemed right- side up again and he allowed himself a slight smile as he straightened up.

"I think your evil voice is scarier than Virgil's." Nate said from the corner. "I've never heard anything like that." Logan inclined his head towards him.

"I should assume not." Logan replied. "If you'd heard a voice like mine before, that would imply you've met darkness with the amount of power I hold, and this simply cannot be true." Lucius was on his feet in less than a second, his hand grasping around Logan's throat.

"You are on thin ice, boy." He hissed at him. His voice crackled and hissed with the energy of air before a lightning strike. Logan flicked his eyes to the ground, then back up at Lucius.

"Actually, it appears I'm on solid stone. Roughly six inches of it." Nate let out a hastily stifled laugh behind him. Logan smiled up at Lucius. "You're harder for me to ignore, Lucius." He said softly. "You have more of an impact than Remus. I can't ignore the horrible things greed makes people do, but isn't that just it. You can't do anything on your own. You need others to meet your goals for you." The pleasant tone never left his voice.

"Insolent fool." Lucius pushed Logan to the ground, and Logan-still missing his sense of equilibrium- crashed down to the stone with almost no resistance. "Remus!" He barked. "Do with him what you will and prove his crack-pot theory wrong. We can affect him, and we will. Break him. He can't die, so don't hold back." And Logan felt something heavy collide with the side of his face. He knew Remus hadn't moved, it was Lucius who had struck him. He wasn't afraid, not really worried at all. He was fine. Until he heard the shifting, sliding noises of rope. Suddenly, he wasn't in the Dark Domains any more. He was in Thomas's living room, near the door to the kitchen, and Caesar was gripping his arm with iron strength. It was flashes of color and emotions, fear and pain and red. And he couldn't move. He was bound by ropes, blinded by a cloth, helpless, and he never wanted to be in that position again. Yelling brought him back to reality, Remus had not moved, and Lucius was not happy. He threw the ropes down on to Logan's stomach, winding him for a second.

"Bind him and bring him elsewhere." He commanded. Logan saw the hesitation in Remus even as he moved to obey his king. Logan was panicking, he wasn't bound yet but he couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and Lucius knew, and Lucius was laughing. This was the punishment he deserved he supposed. For the way he treated his family before. He deserved every awful thing that was to come. The ropes closed around him, and now even if he could convince himself to move, he would be unable to get free. Panic started to overtake his chest, gripping him, freezing his mind and chest, sharp shards or ice filling up his lungs. Breathing hurt. He felt himself being raised off the ground, felt himself slung over Remus's shoulder. A whimper escaped his throat before he could stop it. He was going back to the maze. He knew it. He couldn't go back there. He couldn't. He wouldn't. But all amount of fight had been drained from him at the sound of ropes. Halls and colors were passing, and Logan wasn't sure which ones were real and which ones weren't. Some looked like the dark domain, others like the long, gaping corridors of the living hall section of the maze. Was he running? He wasn't moving. He didn't know what was happening to him until he felt his back collide firmly with something soft. A gasp tore its way into his throat, and he felt the ropes fall away from him. Logan, suddenly feeling far less panicked, made eye contact with Remus, and what he saw there made the rest of his fear bleed away. Remus wasn't going to hurt him. He didn't want to. An unconscious whimper left Logan's mouth, even as he sprung to his feet.

"Logan," Remus's voice was uncharacteristically calm. "I won't hurt you. I know what happened to you." Logan looked around, studying his environment. Maybe it was left over faulty logic from the maze he'd just escaped, but he felt that you could tell a person's intentions by the rooms and objects they choose to surround themselves with. And looking closely at Remus's surprisingly small and modest room, Logan was surprised. There was a bed with black sheets and a green comforter with stacks of poofy black and green pillows and a small variety of stuffed animals. There was a deep blue turtle, a light blue cat, a red dragon, a purple bat, an orangish colored dog, a yellow snake, and several different octopi in varying colors. There was a dresser crammed in the corner and a green bean bag directly in front of it. There was a laptop in the other corner and about what Logan estimated to be about three square feet of free space. Based solely off of his room, Logan decided he was safe to stay.

"I-" Remus hesitated. "Can I talk to you? About what happened in the maze I mean? I'm not sure how much of it was real. I want to know what happened to you… to see if it was the same I mean. To see what might have actually happened I guess."

"I… I'm not sure I can." Logan replied. "There were… a lot of emotions I didn't count on when I was first relaying the events to the others. I- I could barely hold myself together, and I hadn't even gotten to the traumatizing parts of the narrative. If it will help you, I can try, but I can't promise to yield results." And even now, Logan was struggling. Remus nodded.

"Sit." He offered. Logan perched himself at the foot of Remus's bed, and Rems sat down next to him, resting his mace against the headboard.

"I apologise if I'm unable to recount events properly." Logan began, the effects of his pills were already wearing off and he cursed his stupidity and lack of foresight for not bringing them with him. After all, if he wasn't a light side any more, what did he have to prove by not taking them? Remus's face split into a too-wide smile.

"You needn't feel ashamed with your dear old Duke," he sang. "You need not think decency." To both of their surprise, Logan joined in with;

"You see this house on fire, I see it too, 'cause you've got a fiend in me!" The Duke was overtaken by hysterical laughter, and Logan found himself chuckling softly. Maybe the dark side wouldn't be as bad as he thought it was going to be. Sobering instantly and rather abruptly, Remus asked;

"Do you think you can tell me about it, though?" Logan nodded.

"I would however, like to warn you, that as I was first explaining, I realised there were blanks and faults in the chronological timeline of events in my memory."

"You too huh?" Remus asked, leaning back slightly. "What's the first thing that comes to mind?" With the intention of answering, Logan thought back to the maze. Before he could so much as utter a word, a sharp blade of fear pierced his chest. He was on the floor, writhing in pain, Roman and Virgil looming above him with twin sadistic smiles. Each of them was carrying a knife. Patton stood behind them, smiling a soft, sweet smile. There was a rope in his hands.

"Stay still, Lo," Patton said softly. "It'll hurt worse if you don't." And Virgil and Roman were laughing. Quietly. Darkly. Logan could get himself to move, he was petrified by bhis fear and the feeling of betrayal that had washed over him. Patton stepped forward, Virgil and Roman parting to make room for him, and kneeled down beside Logan's left arm. It wasn't until he felt the rope start to be pulled around his neck that he regained enough control over his body to struggle. When he did, however, Virgil and Roman swooped down to hold him in place. Panic overtaking his mind, Logan couldn't think of a way out of the situation he had landed himself in. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know why the other light sides had turned on him, he didn't know what made Patton want to hurt anyone, let alone him. The only thing he knew was that he needed to get away. Quickly. He jerked his legs up as quickly and firmly as he could, luckily causing Roman to stumble backwards. He swung them back down quickly and used that momentum to launch himself forward. Virgil wasn't shaken lose as easily, but he had successfully thrown Patton off of him and at least had his feet on the floor. Virgil recovered more quickly from the change in position than he did, and Logan suddenly found himself with a knife at his throat. At the moment he properly processed this, he felt his knuckles graze an object. Grabbing hold of it, without thinking about what he was doing, he forcefully stabbed at Virgil's leg with it. A hiss of pain told him that he had picked up the knife Roman must have dropped, and he held on to it tightly as Virgil stumbled backwards. The blade of Virgil's knife grazed his skin with a sharp pang and he felt a few beads of liquid drip down his neck. Roman grabbed him from behind, twisting the arm that held the knife behind his back, and pulling it upwards painfully. Biting back, a pained squeak, he rammed his entire body weight into Roman's left knee. Roman buckled, pulling Logan down with him, but that was his own downfall, as the knife Logan was still gripping was shoved into Roman's sternum by the force of the collision with the floor. Roman let out a sort of choking noise, and his grasp on Logan loosened considerably.

"You bastard!" Virgil lunged forward with his blade, and Logan barely stumbled back in time, the thin tip dragging across his skin and drawing a bead of blood once more. "You fucking killed him!" The anguish in Virgil's voice was eclipsed only by the clear hatred. He was fast, but Logan was faster. When he lunged again, Logan bent as far backwards as he could, Virgil's arm and blade missing his throat by centimeters. Adrenaline pushing him to move, he lodged the blade he held in between Virgil's ribs where his liver would be. Unlike with Roman, there was no choking sound, instead Virgil just stilled and stiffened. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he slowly slumped to the ground.

"You killed my baby!" Patton sobbed. "Is it any surprise we couldn't love you? We tried, but you're just so… so evil!" A violent sob racked Patton's whole body. "Light sides are whole and sane, how did you ever think you were one of us?" The knife slipped out of Logan's grasp as his adrenaline began to wear off. He killed them. He fucking killed his best friends. Patton was right he was evil. He was darkness incarnate. And he hated himself for it. He couldn't even call himself logic anymore, with everything that happened recently. He cried, he screamed, he begged, he pleaded, he ran from danger, and he killed two people, none of that logical in the least. His knees buckled. "Now you can't even finish the job?" Patton wailed. "What kind of a monster are you to kill my babies and leave me?" Writing on the floor in front of him appeared.

"Take a pill." Logan did as he was instructed, having learned already that disobeying the maze was asking for pain. That's why he was here now, after all. He held still, listening to Patton's broken sobs, the words he threw at him feeling as though they were physically scalding his flesh. Slowly, ever so slowly, the edges of his vision became the slightest bit fuzzy, and his hearing seemed to have dulled slightly. The scalding on his skin had left him, and the ice in his chest had melted to lukewarm water. He looked into Patton's face as the Moral side continued to cry. He didn't like the sound of it. It was like nails on a chalkboard and, though the fiery feeling of rage or the itching of irritation never came, Logan wanted the sound to stop. One single thought took root in his mind, almost as though someone was standing right next to him, whispering in his ear.

"To make it stop, just pick up the knife and slit his throat." Logan's hand closed around the handle of the knife again and he rose to his feet. Patton was backed against the wall, sobbing for his 'sons'. He raised the knife over his left shoulder as he neared the moral side. He intended to obey the mantra repeating itself in his head, he intended to slit the side's throat, to watch the blood run down his skin, to make that awful sound stop. But he hesitated, because a new voice had sprung up, and it sounded very much like Patton's, but he was still sobbing;

"You love him, don't you dare!" In his hesitation, Patton looked up at him with an expression of utmost disgust.

"Just kill me already, I can't live without my babies." He spat. Both voices in Logan's head shut off, and he studied Patton for a moment. His voice came back into Logan's mind, though his lips still didn't move.

"You love him, make him happy." So Logan did the only logical thing. He knelt down in front of Patton, tilted his chin up gently with two of his fingers, and whispered;

"As you wish." The blade cut into his delicate flesh, and the scarlet river that resulted poured down over his right arm, chest, and lap. And Logan was happy… kind of. There was no warm feeling in his chest, no bubbles either, just the little Patton voice telling him he did good and telling him to smile.

"Logan!" Remus's voice shouted. Confused, Logan looked around for the source of the noise. Remus wasn't here. "Snap out of it, nerdy wolverine." Snap out of what? All of a sudden, everything came to a screeching halt as Logan found himself halfway on, half way off of Remus's bed, with a splitting headache, hands shaking. He silently cursed himself for letting a flash back fully take hold of him like that. He knew he hadn't killed the light sides. They were alive… well, Patton and Virgil were alive, Thomas was mostly okay, and Logan would cure Princey and make Thomas entirely okay. "Logan, what happened?" Expecting his voice to be far more stable than it was, all that came out was a whimper when he tried to respond. To his immense surprise, Remus pulled him back up onto the bed, and put his hand over his, awkwardly, but reassuringly. After struggling a few moments longer, Logan finally got words to leave his mouth.

"I'm a murderer." It wasn't what he meant to say, but he supposed it was close enough.

"They made you kill someone in the maze?" Remus asked. Logan shook his head roughly, knowing he wouldn't be able to form the words, wishing he had his pills back so he could just take a handful and stop being such a stupid bitch. "They made me do that too. I killed Roman. Three times. Every time was easier, and every time it scared me more." Remus nodded. "I killed Virgil and Judas too. Twice I think, but by that time I didn't care anymore. Everything was fake to me… still is… kind of any way." He snapped out of his intense and dark tone and attitude immediately. "Wellp, we can just be murderous cum stains on society together then." He said, back to his chaotically bubbly self. Despite himself, Logan let out a humorous huff of air.

"That sounds good." He forced out, even though he didn't believe it.

"You know, Logan, you really impress me." Remus said joyfully.

"Why the fu-" Remus cut him off, by leaning into his personal space.

"You're so strong. You know what's real and what isn't still, at least for the most part. I don't know how you could have survived, especially with you literally being logic… oh sorry, cunning, right?" He smiled too widely, and now, thinking about everything Logan knew Remus had to have gone through he recognized that Remus likely was trying to put him at ease and just couldn't process that it was scary.

"Yeah… cunning." Logan agreed slowly. Remus snorted slightly.

"I'd rather you be cumming." He snickered, leaning somehow closer still without touching him. Logan froze at first, not wanting to go anywhere near that kind of interaction with anyone, but then he started to rethink. Time seemed to slow down, and his thought process sped up dramatically. I'm in so much emotional pain that it becomes physical, the pills cut it all off, but I may do something while on the pills that causes me more pain later and that will only send me into a spiral of self-loathing until I try to attempt suicide again or overdose and the whole process will have to repeat itself, so I have to find a healthier coping mechanism than the pills. A 'friends with benefits' set up may actually work in my favor here, arousal and adrenaline are fairly well known to drive out other emotions easily, and I'll have the benefit of having a closer connection to Remus. That will likely help him stabilize as well, and if we have that kind of connection, he's less likely to turn on me or attempt to harm me, and that will alleviate a lot of struggle in the long run. Besides, I might like it. Time snapped back to flowing normally the second his thought process ended. Wasting not half a second more- confidence is key- he leaned forward and captured Remus's lips with his own, hoping that Remus wasn't just making out of place lewd jokes as usual. He was reassured by Remus's hand latching onto the back of his head and holding him close. Logan had never kissed someone before, so he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but he had read a few books in which kissing tactics made an appearance so he held the smallest bit of confidence in his abilities. Remus's tongue slid across his bottom lip and Logan, only knowing what he was supposed to do because of his reading in the past, opened his mouth. The feeling of Remus's tongue on his was shocking and almost repulsing at first, but he didn't allow himself to gag or show that he hadn't felt it before. He slowly shifted himself closer to Remus, wondering just why on Earth this was causing sadness to well up in his chest. He felt hands push on his shoulders, and allowed himself to be distracted by Remus's fingers.


	34. A Logical Fallacy

Chapter Five

A Logical Fallacy

Logan had to admit, it had worked. He no longer felt the pain that he did before. Instead, soreness in his legs and lower back replaced it. Logan had found it quite difficult to stand after being with Remus twice in the time he had spent in his room and his eyes were still slightly red and bloodshot from his flashback moments previous, so when Remus carried Logan back into the meeting hall, Deceit and Nate had sympathetic gazes for him. They increased when Remus sat him down and he let a maybe just slightly exaggerated whimper of pain escape his lips. Lucius, clearly under the impression that Logan had been punished, as were orders, chuckled. Tom, in the corner, crossed his arms with the sound of clanking and groaning metal, and Logan wasn't entirely sure that he knew whether Tom was pleased or disgusted by Logan's pain. He also found that he didn't particularly care.

"I'm glad you could all make it here tonight gentleman." Lucius hissed in a cruel voice. Logan kept his eyes fixed on the table, finding himself subconsciously following the rules of the figment hall from the maze. And as that thought registered to him, he felt himself being drawn back into a flashback. His breath was coming quickly, everything sounded as though he were submerged under water, until he heard his own screams echoing through the air. They sounded distant, but still more real than the chatter happening around was standing above him, he looked almost transparent… only part way there. He was colored in entirely grey scale, black blood pouring sluggishly from his side and leg. He still had his knife. Logan could feel himself shake as he did his best to avoid eye contact with him. One sentence, one fact that he had learned echoed through his mind. One safety, one constant he could latch on to, no matter how terrifying that constant was; if you look into the eyes of a shadow figment, your worst nightmares would fill your mind and torture you into submission.

Remus noticed Logans trembles first. He was holding remarkably still for what Remus knew was happening, staying remarkably silent. A single tear slid down his cheek, and Remus knew Lucius would notice. He wasn't really listening to the meeting, Nate and Deceit would fill him in, and he wasn't really allowed to make decisions anyways, so it startled him when Lucius addressed Logan directly.

"I apologize, my lord." Remus said in a rush. "I'm not quite sure he can hear you." Praying Judas wouldn't pick up on the slight bit of deception he was about to pull he added, "I was quite rough with him." Lucius nodded slightly, and Remus had to stop himself from sighing in relief when Judas didn't say anything. He knew Lucius and Tom would tear Logan apart piece by piece if they knew he had trauma issues, and he wasn't sure why, but he really didn't want that to happen.

"Do you think you would be able to pull him back out of the trance you've seemed to work him into?" Lucius hissed lightly. Remus nodded violently and leaned over to whisper in Logan's ear.

"You need to come back to us nerdy wolverine. You're safe right now, but you won't be soon." Remus could practically see Logan being brought back to reality, and Logan- ever so perceptive- seemed to have picked up on the situation, because he hung his head and whimpered out a small, terrified;

"I'm sorry." Lucius chuckled and Logan shook violently for a moment before straightening up. Remus could tell he was pointedly avoiding eye contact with anyone. Damn this nerd's smart.

"Since this was your first time being punished, I will have mercy on you and repeat myself, do know that I will not do so again in the future." Lucius sneered.

"Yes sir." Logan said in monotone with no hesitation. He saw Lucius's face split into an almost Remus worthy unnerving grin in his peripheral. "The question was whether you are ready to challenge Remus for his place among us, after all even in pain you should be able to decide Remus can't hurt you, correct?" He jeered. Tom laughed, and Logan had made up his mind instantaneously.

"My Lord, if I may be so bold as to request, I'd like to challenge Tom for his position, instead of Remus." The hall was dead silent.

"Proving wrath already I see…" Lucius drawled. "Very well, boy, we'll see how this goes."

"My lord- please, you ca-" Tom began, panicked.

"Silence." Lucius snapped, cutting him off. "If you are afraid of losing to a broken and battered former light side, then perhaps you aren't meant to be here at all." His chilling voice silenced the table and Logan slowly got to his feet, swaying slightly, as he was still nauseous. Lucius eyed him critically for a moment, before seeming to make up his mind on something. "You have one hour, I want to see you in your new outfit, Cunning, ready to fight for your position. You may have help from anyone sitting at this table, but I'm sure you know how dangerous asking for help is." He stood, staring down at them imposingly. "Meeting adjourned." And he was gone in a wisp of smoke. Tom growled at Logan from across the room and stormed out the door, demanding that Nate follow him. Nate wrinkled his nose, gave him the one- finger salute, and turned compassionate eyes towards Logan.

"You good, nerd?" He asked. Logan nodded.

"I am slightly dizzy, but otherwise stable and well." He clarified.

"Why were you so rough with him, didn't you say he was your favorite?" Judas demanded of Remus.

"I-" Remus began, but Logan cut across him.

"He did not harm me, I had a vivid, trauma induced flash-back, added to the side effects of coming down from a psychedelic induced high." Judas's expression was the most surprised and confused Logan had ever seen from a side.

"Dude… the fuck?" Nate asked, nearly laughing. "There's some weird-ass shit going on huh?" Logan shrugged.

"I suppose so yes, now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to battle the embodiment of chaos." He said pleasantly.

"You need to make your new dark side uniform first." Remus said excitedly.

"Yes Remus, I'm aware." Logan replied tiredly.

"You want help?" Nate offered generously. Logan tilted his head to one side.

"I suppose I'll need it." He replied. Nate whooped.

"I've been waiting for the chance to help style someone's outfit for like, so long." He said in a rush. "We want your personality to come through in the costumes, so here's what I want you to do. Design your outfit, best you can now, we'll look it over and add or take things away. If you get stuck… well you're super smart, so I'm sure you can do like pattern and trend things."

"Basically, he means think about us while you're changing." Remus laughed, leering at Logan.

"I'm not quite sure that came across as dirty as you meant it to, but you are, without a doubt, entirely disgusting." Logan said, unamused.

"Duck into this room here, so you can do what you're going to do." Nate gesture vaguely over his shoulder to a door behind him. Logan nodded and slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. The room was very small, there was a bench and a mirror but other than that nothing. He summoned himself his sketchbook, and placed it on the bench beside him. Logan looked himself over in the mirror laid before him. A new style was paramount. In order to be truly cut off from the Light Sides- and in turn set them free of being tainted by him- he would have to stop looking like a Light Side. His color pallet, he was sure, was dark enough to keep, and based off of what the other dark sides wore, he supposed something outlandish and- dare he say it- nonsensical was definitely in order, but what to do? He supposed makeup was somewhat of a trend within the dark sides. Remus wore eyeshadow, Nate wore thin eyeliner, and Lucius wore almost a full face of makeup on a regular. Logan was definitely not considering going as far as the ruler of the darkness, but if makeup was the norm, he supposed he might as well participate. The question now was, what kind? It should be something odd, he supposed, but intimidating. He wasn't sure he knew how to do that, he'd never worn make up in his life, and definitely never had time to practice. He would worry about that one later. First and foremost, he had to figure out how the hell you were supposed to take a plain button down and make it threatening. Changing it up in general was necessary, so he decided he would lengthen the sleeves. For a touch of eccentricity, as that was most definitely the style among the dark, he chose to have them end in a point that extended over his hands. He turned to the sketch pad beside him, adding that new thought to the design of his original outfit. Acting on a sudden whim, he roughly sketched the sleeves hanging down off his arms, giving an even thinner look to his body. He nodded absently to himself and thought back to the outfits of the other sides once more. Remus had a multitude of needless decorations. Nate was a fan of jewelry, namely chains. Judas wore many layers, though that may only have been due to his lack of self-confidence. Lucius had silver chains hanging off of his waist, arms, and neck most of the time He supposed adding layers or something shiny to his outfit may aid him in his separation from the light. He experimented with several different layer options before he settled on getting rid of his tie- A subtle nod to the revelation that he no longer figuratively tied down the light sides- and sketched himself the vague shape of a cape that hung loosely off his shoulders, clamping in front of his chest, sweeping down his back to just barely not touch the ground. It was needlessly large and not at all functional, but he supposed that fit the criteria for a dark side outfit. Remembering that Nate was the only dark side that didn't wear heeled boots, Logan added a pair to his sketch. Feeling that Lucius would likely be flattered by a subtle nod to his own fashion, he added a few, thin chains to his waist, neck, and boots. He still had no idea what kind of makeup he was supposed to wear, so he settled on having none. He sighed and did his best to snap himself into the outfit he'd thought up. He chose his usual deep blue for the cape with a shimmering silver crow as the clasp. He was quite proud at himself for summoning something so specific out of nothing. Only Roman could do that with ease. Thinking about the deceased light side made Logan start to feel choked up, so he cut off that line of thought almost violently. He successfully summoned shimmering silver chains to decorate his outfit, having the rest of his outfit be plain black. He sighed tiredly, placed Daylan in a shoe box in the corner, and exited the room. Remus checked him out very openly, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Hot." He said with another too wide grin. Logan rolled his eyes.

"What do I change?" He asked Nate. Nate's face split into a grin.

"It's pretty damn good, nerd, you already look like one of us. What do you think about getting rid of your glasses?" He said snidely.

"I need them to see." Logan said blankly. Deceit snorted.

"I mean replace them with contacts, dumbass." Nate said laughingly.

"Oh… I don't know." Logan replied honestly.

"Okay, fair." Nate said. "How about makeup? You chill with us designing that?" Logan just shrugged, and immediately found himself pushed into a rolling chair that wasn't there before and being pushed out of the room by a smirking Judas. Remus was practically skipping beside them, giggling wildly. Nate was doing handsprings and cartwheels just barely ahead of them to the side. Judas picked up speed, and Logan grabbed onto the arms of the chair as they reached what Logan estimated to be the average speed of a fucking jet liner. In spite of himself, a joyful yell made its way out of his mouth to join the gail of laughter from the other dark sides. Logan would never admit to the squeak of fright he gave when they turned the corner and skid to a stop. He found himself laughing along with them at the end of it, and by the time they'd calmed down, Nate and Remus had eyeshadow pallets and foundation.

"Let's get this bread." Nate said, popping open the foundation.

"I don't know if-" Logan was cut off by Deceit.

"Oh come on Logan, it won't at all be fun." He urged him.

"Fine." He conceded, sighing. The others let out excited noises, and closed around him. He was pretty sure it was Judas that grabbed his glasses. He stiffened the second one of them touched his face, but allowed himself to relax after a moment. Nate, Remus, and Judas were arguing over styles and ideas, even as they applied the makeup. Logan forced himself to keep a blank face and stay still, but laughter was bubbling up in his throat. Finally, it seemed they settled on one specific theme, and after a moment, they pulled back.

"It doesn't have to be this one Logan." Nate said to him. "If you don't like it, we can do a different one." They sound his chair to the side to face a wall mirror that was mounted there. They'd drawn color flowing freely from his eyes, white fading to blue fading to black. His eyelids were covered in a swirling mix of grey, white, and blue reminding him of storm clouds and water. He was suddenly hit with an inspiration.

"It's good." He replied after a moment, "but perhaps a color change? Change the drip from white, blue, and black to red, purple, and blue."

Nate fixed a sad smile on to him.

"You got it, nerd." They spun him around again and got to work. When they turned him back to the mirror, the effect of his decision hit him like a brick. He could always have Patton, Virgil, and Roman with him without hitting them.

"Perfect." He heard the ice in his voice as Nate and Judas shivered for a moment.

"Do you want to talk strategy?" Judas asked. "It's not like Chaos is our best fighter now."

"I have a strategy." Logan said. "It's trial tested."

"Okay, nerd, if you're sure." Nate shrugged. "Since we've still got like 20 minutes-"

"22 minutes 33 seconds," Logan interrupted. "32 seconds, 31 seconds-"

"We get it." Nate rolled his eyes. "I was going to say that we should go check out your room. The dark domain should have made you one already." Logan nodded, about to stand.

"I must admit, I am curious." Remus playfully shoved him back into the chair, causing it to roll back slightly.

"Taxi!" He and Nate called. Judas, chuckling slightly, grasped the back of the chair. Logan, ready this time, gripped the arms. Remus took off down a hallway Logan hadn't seen earlier. Nate took off after him and Logan felt the chair lurch forward as Deceit began to run forward. He allowed himself to laugh along with the other dark sides as they pushed him towards what was presumably the way to his new room. Nate and Remus got to the new door first, pushing it open. When the wheels of the chair tried to go over the small, wooden bump in the threshold, it stopped abruptly, throwing Logan out of it. He hit the ground still laughing, and sat up. Judas had fallen into the chair and was currently also on the floor with the chair upside down on top of him. Remus and Nate had started laughing harder and Judas seemed to be having a hard time breathing for the same reason. Logan collected himself and helped Judas up, pushing the chair back with his foot at the same time. Judas smiled at him and, though it should have been unnerving with his half snake face, it was quite pleasant.

"You're not nearly as frightening as you present yourself to Thomas." Logan commented to him. Judas flushed pink on the human side of his face.

"W- wait, yes I am!" His eyes widened and Remus and Nate, who had just calmed down began laughing once more. "Wait a minute! I meant to say that!" Logan found himself laughing slightly again too.

"You know, if you didn't try to scare him, he'd listen to you more." Logan pointed out.

"That makes sense." Judas argued. "No one ever listens to intimidating people."

"But Thomas listens to sides he perceives as good, and shoves sides away that he perceives as bad or evil."

"I suppose that doesn't make any sense." Judas said thoughtfully.

"This room is pretty empty." Nate commented, spinning in a circle. Logan nodded.

"Indeed." He replied. The room was large and open with a high ceiling. The walls and floor were white tiel, reminding Logan of a hospital or science lab. The ceiling, similar to the one in his old room, was painted with stars. The furniture already in the room was interesting to say the least. There was a small black bed frame in the corner with a white mattress but no blankets or pillows. There was a long, empty black bookshelf on the east wall, and on the west wall five large, empty cages were mounted next to a long, heavy counter top. Logan frowned slightly. He held out his hand and closed his eyes. He imagined that he was standing in his old room, reaching out to grab the blanket on his bed. Yes, he was far away from that room, but at the same time, he was in Thomas's mind… wasn't his old room and new room just the exact same place? He inhaled deeply and yanked his hand back, pleased to find the blanket from his old room in his hand after opening his eyes.

"Woah!" Nate exclaimed.

"You can summon things like that?" Judas asked, confused and amazed.

"No, only the Creativity brothers can make something out of nothing." Logan rolled his eyes. "All I did was reach into another part of Thomas's mind. It's difficult to do but it's possible."

"I want to do that!" Remus wined. "No fair!"

"I'd teach you how, but I don't think you have the patience or mental control." Logan said confidently. Nate snorted. Judas just knew Logan could see the amount of awe in his gaze, but fuck it if this guy didn't already know everything. His eyes nearly glowed with knowledge and his entire being seemed to hum with power. Judas wouldn't be surprised if Logan could just read people's thoughts.

"That is definitely not the most amazing thing I've ever seen. You're not talented at all." He said. A small smile flickered into life on Logan's face.

"Thank you, but it really isn't as impressive as you seem to think." He said humbly.

"I agree." Judas countered. "It isn't one of the most spectacular things I've heard of."

"Gotta side with Judas on this one, nerd." Nate said. "That's lit as fuck."

"Can you do that with anything?" Remus asked excitedly.

"As long as I'm familiar enough with the area it's in and I know where it is." Logan nodded.

"Wow." Judas breathed.

"Oh shit." Logan said suddenly, jumping slightly. "We need to get back to the meeting hall, I've got five minutes."

"Taxi!" Remus shouted. Judas swung the swivel chair around and pushed it into the back of Logan's knees, causing him to collapse back into it. This time, Logan seemed to be almost excited for the chair ride. Taking care not to flip the chair again over the wooden door stop, Judas pushed the chair in front of him, having to run very quickly to keep up with the other two sides. Logan's hall was incredibly long and complex, much more than any other Judas had been in, but then again, Logan was the most complex of the sides if any of Judas's theories were correct. They were barely going to make it in time. By the time Judas could see the open doors to the meeting hall, Logan shouted;

"30 seconds!" Though his voice was laughing. Judas smirked, getting an idea.

"Hold on tight, nerd." He shoved the chair ahead of him as hard as he possibly could. The chair had spun a bit, so when Logan passed over the threshold, he was rolling backwards. He had crossed his arms and was smiling devilishly. Judas laughed, slowing to a walk. Remus and Nate both slid into the meeting hall just after Logan did. The chair only stopped moving when it bumped into the far wall. Judas crossed the threshold of the room in time to see Lucius scowling at Logan and saying;

"You're late, Cunning."

"Actually, I think you'll find that when I entered the room, I still had fifteen seconds to make it here on time, and here I am." He said with a calm smile, uncrossing his arms.

"Fine." Lucius waved him off. "I do hope you are ready for combat." The dark king slumped back in his throne with an annoyed expression.

"I am." Logan nodded as he stood. Tom, who had been shadowed in the corner, stood as well, his arms crossed and posture angry. Logan bent slightly in a shallow bow, and Tom flipped him off. "I suppose that's fair." Logan nodded. The doors, which Remus and Nate had just pushed closed, flung open, crashing against the walls.

"Logan, I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing but you are not staying here with these monsters." Virgil was standing in the doorway, silhouetted harshly by the glowing light behind him.

"Remus, dispose of him." Lucius waved towards Virgil lazily.

"Hold on." Logan said firmly. "It is very possible that if he sees this, it will deter him from returning to attempt to collect me in the future. It will be less trouble for everyone involved." Lucius seemed to consider him for a moment. Judas was nervous, he was sure that Logan was what the dark sides needed. After his quick display of power in his new room, he knew Logan would beat Tom no problem, and his calm disposition and rational way of thinking would carry them to Thomas's favor and balance could truly be achieved. If Virgil successfully brought Logan back to the light sides it would destroy their chance for peace.

"Fine, he may stay and watch, but Remus will dispose of him should he attempt to interfere." Lucius decided finally.

"There won't be time for him to interfere." Logan said pleasantly, rolling his shoulders. Judas couldn't fathom a plan Logan could have to take down Tom, let alone quickly. Tom was incredibly powerful, Virgil would likely have a hard time holding his own in battle with him, and Logan was smaller and inexperienced. Then again, thinking and planning was Logan's job, not Judas's.

"You're already being initiated?" Virgil asked incredulously.

"That is the plan, yes." Logan nodded.

"Enough chatter. Begin." Lucius snapped. Judas tensed and bit, his fists clenching by his sides. Logan could not lose. Tom lunged forward, his gargantuan sword flashing into being within his hand. Logan didn't move, didn't stop smiling his pleasant, nonchalant, casual smile as if nothing were happening. Tom's sword made contact with Logan's chest and the blade sunk in deeply. Judas felt his blood run cold, and wasn't entirely sure if it was him or Virgil who called out to the intellectual side. But Logan was still smiling, his eyes still sparkling mischievously. He brought up one hand and grasped Tom's wrist. Tom started attempting to pull away but his sword seemed to be stuck. Logan's smile widened almost imperceptibly, and in a flash of soft white light, Tom clattered to the ground. Logan was gone.

"Logan!" So it was Virgil that screamed. Logan's soft, gentle, condescending chuckle filled the room and, though it was somewhat terrifying, it filled Judas with hope that he really would win and really could save them. Tom was haunched down in a very aggressive fighting stance.

"Do you know what's interesting about being a part of Thomas's mind?" Logan's soft but echoing voice said in a wondrous tone. "While everything is technically real, nothing is physically really there. We are more real than anything Thomas will ever experience and yet we are no more real than the characters Roman creates. There is nothing that is permanent and yet nothing really changes. Everything here is merely Thomas's perception and in knowing and understanding that, there is freedom and power." Tom started behaving erratically, swinging his oversized sword at nothing, looking around in a panicked fashion. "Even here, Tom, you believe you have slashed me, you believe you should have drawn blood, but in reality, I'm not here. I'm not anywhere near you, no one else can see what you are attacking. There is nothing there."

"You coward!" Tom stopped swinging his sword and turned his head up toward the ceiling. "Come out and fight me like a man."

"Careful Tom." Logan's calm voice warned. "You can't touch me, but I can touch you." Tom was thrown backwards off of his feet as though he had been struck square in the chest with something large and heavy. Logan's visage flickered to life. Reds, blues, purples, flickering, twitching, a crackling sort of static sound surrounding him. The only word for it was glitching, and it was terrifying. The vibrating hum of all consuming power had filled the air as Logan walked steadily forward towards Tom. His smile was vague and almost blank as he did so. When he spoke, his lips did not move and his chilly winter voice once again rang from the ceilings, the walls, from within Judas's own mind. "You are an abstract, you are immaterial, you are both inconsequential and asomatous." He glitched violently, crackling louder. His next words came out broken, complete but halting, mechanical. "You are weak." The glitching mien of Logan fizzled and popped, fading and falling away to nothing. Everything was silent for a moment, and then Tom screamed. It was a deep, blood curdling sound that froze Judas to the spot, which was lucky for him, for if it hadn't he would have ran and running away from something like this was a sure fire way to invoke the ire of the king of darkness. Tom was lifted off the floor, seemingly by his neck and he was writing, his legs flailing out in every direction. Beside Judas, Remus was practically dancing on the spot, excited by the exhibition of power and fear before them. Nate seemed as though he were going to fall ill from the screaming, his face was pale and his expression appeared nauseous. Virgil seemed torn between running away and curling into a ball, his eyes were wide and panicked and his lips were parted in the shadow of a scream, all worry he held for his friend clearly died in his throat. Lucius too, from his throne, was pale and sickly looking. His fear for the creature he had invoked paramount to what any of them had expected to feel here. It took Judas far too long to realize that Tom's armor was melting about his throat, orange and black dripping to the floor, steaming and seeming to harden again once it touches the ground. His hands had come up to grip at air as though trying to pry invisible hands away from his throat. His struggles seemed to weaken and die and his body became limp. It was clear he could breathe, he was going to die. It wasn't until the pigment of his armor started to dull and drain that Judas could process properly what was happening.

"Logan, no!" He screamed. His feet were moving before he knew what he was doing. Apparently, in his surprise, Logan's figure rematerialized with a shocked expression upon his face. Judas knocked Logan's arm out of the way, putting himself between him and Tom. He squeezed his eyes shut, prepared for a blow to come, berating himself for acting so rashly. But Logan never struck him, and when he finally got the nerve to open his eyes, Logan was regarding him curiously.

"Why stop me?" Logan's voice came only from Judas's mind this time as he held Logan's gaze steadily. Experimentally, he merely thought his next sentence clearly.

"You are not a murderer."

"Interesting." Logan's voice said softly, though his glitching form showed no signs that it had spoken. "The curse only affects spoken words on your part, perhaps that will make it easier to lift."

"Logan… are you… are we communicating telepathically?" Judas asked silently, uncertain.

"Oh yes, in fact the others likely think we're having a stare-down. So instead of staring me into submission, why don't you convince me I shouldn't kill him?"

"Logan?" Judas asked.

"I hate him." Logan said simply. "He mocks me, he causes unbalance in Thomas's mind, he threatens those I love, he hurts and oppresses all of you. Tell me why I shouldn't end his pathetic life now."

"Because you're better than him." Judas replied instantly, knowing it to be true. "You aren't like him. You're stronger, yes, but you're also smarter. Be the bigger man and step away. He'll be too afraid of you to oppose you again anyhow. Just tell him to stay away and he will." Logan's voice was silent for a moment, and Judas was temporarily frightened that he had failed to convince him. Then Logan looked away from him and towards the ground. From behind them, Nate gasped, and in all fairness, Judas wouldn't never have expected himself to win a stare-down with someone that powerful either. He could hardly look the others in the eye before, and they were friends… for the most Logan looked away, and towards the ground. Behind them, Virgil gasped and Nate made a strange choked sound. Judas understood why, he could never have imagined he could stare down someone as powerful as Logan, hell he could barely look his friends in the eye half the time.

"Fine." Logan said almost casually. "He lives. His position is still mine though. If he tries to fight back again," here he glitched excessively once more, "I will not spare him again." He turned and walked elegantly away from Judas, stopped roughly two feet away from Virgil, and regarded him curiously. "Do you believe I belong here now?" The trill of icy bells never left his voice, nor did the back bite of sharp winter's wind.

"No." Virgil said defiantly, though he had seemed to shrink in on himself. He and Logan locked eyes for a moment, and Judas briefly wondered if they were having the same sort of conversation he had just had with Logan. When Virgil looked away, shuddering slightly, not even a moment later, Judas knew he was wrong. To his knowledge, Virgil had never lost a stare-down before, especially not such a short one. The second they broke eye contact, Virgil seemed to know he was in trouble. He sent one last searching glance at Logan, and scampered away like a scared cat.

"Judas," Lucius barked, "Check to see if he even survived that.

"He didn't." Judas said with certainty, kneeling beside Tom to check anyway. He received something of an electric shock when he swept his eyes over him. There wasn't a thing out of p-lace about him. His armor, which Judas would have sworn was melting in Logan's grip before, was unharmed, untouched. "Uh…" Judas began uncertainly.

"It's alright." Logan waved his hand dismissively. "He was never in any real danger." Judas gaped at him, knowing full well how undignified he looked with his mouth partly open, but too indignantly confused to care for it any.

"W-" but Logan was already explaining.

"I merely made him perceive that he was in pain and unable to breathe. He is only unconscious now because his mind went into a panic and shut down all non-essential functions, as one does under such extreme duress, to slow down heart rate and conserve oxygen levels. The moment he passed out he was out of my power's reach and thus he will be fine once he wakes." He sighed in a bored fashion.

"B-but we saw-" Nate began.

"But are you really sure that what you're seeing is real?" Logan challenged.

"W- ye- I mean… I thought so!" Nate shouted indignantly. Logan smirked. Remus giggled.

"What if I told you that after that initial flash of light, I haven't been here?" He asked in a cheery voice.

"I'd think you'd gone off the deep end." Nate said matter of factly. Logan smiled.

"Wonderful! I've finally made it then. I've always wanted to see the bottom of the ocean." He began to glitch again, violently. The word Ocean was repeated several times in a stuttering, broken, mechanical way, until it faded from existence along with Logan's form. Everyone was still and silent for a moment, the atmosphere so tense and stiff you would have to saw at it with a knife to cut it. Even Lucius was sitting, petrified in his throne. All at once it was broken when the doors opened and Logan, with a faint blue glow around his eyes, wheeled in on the swivel chair and softly sang; "Taxi."


	35. Zipline

Chapter Six

Zipline

Lucius assured Tom that he could stay at a slightly lower rank, even though the original deal was the loser of the fight would have to leave. After all, no one expected Logan would be so powerful. Tom, however, left the Dark Sides in shame, claiming that only the king should be able to best him in combat. Logan had not come out of his new room for even a minute since he left the meeting hall after fighting Tom. At first, Judas thought that Logan felt insulted after they all backed away from him when he rolled back in on the chair everyone now agreed was his, but Logan had allowed Remus into his room and sent his reassurance with the duke that he was working on a very important project and that if he was insulted, he would have told them. At first, Judas didn't think anything of it. Logan was a man that none of them could ever hope to understand. He was just too intelligent, he was on a different level than them and Judas was smart enough to at least understand that. He was sure Logan was working on a 'cure' for Roman, a way to bring him back and since Logan was so dedicated to even the smallest of things, it made sense that he may spend days or even weeks at a time working on this project. But it had been almost two months, and Logan still hadn't surfaced. Now, Judas was worried for his sanity and health. It had been Halloween when everything had happened. Roman came back dead, Logan resurfaced broken, Patton fought tooth and nail through the subconscious, Virgil was thrown into the task of keeping them all together and failed, Logan joined the dark sides, and Tom was bested in battle and left the Dark Domain in shame just as the hands of the clock reached twelve. Thomas went back home with Joan and their sides watching out for him. Joan came up with the idea to have Austin visit Thomas's mind every once in awhile to give him a creative boost to help him with his projects. At first, Thomas declined, refusing to let Austin overwork themselves like that, but they insisted and Thomas relented. He was getting back into a fairly normal routine. Every once in awhile his thoughts would go fuzzy for a moment and Remus would go yell at Logan's door to take a nap. It was roughly two weeks from Christmas, and the spirit of the season had yet to settle upon the Dark Domain. Then again, it rarely did. Remus, bless him, tried to get everyone in the mood. The whole of the Dark Domain looked like a scene that would come of a live action Nightmare Before Christmas, and at nearly any given time, Remus could be seen and heard belting slightly warped versions of Christmas carols and started demanding that Judas and Nate eat dinner with him at the dining room table like a goddamned family for once. Apparently, he had tried to convince Logan to come out and join them but the intellectual side couldn't be bothered by trivial things like eating or sleeping besides the bare minimum until he had finished at least one of his projects.

"Nate! Remus!" Judas called. "Dinner's not done!" He was placing the last dish on the table as he said this. He always cooked for the other dark sides. He was the only one of them that should ever be allowed in the kitchen anyhow. Lucius, of course, refused to eat the food that he made. Judas knew he wasn't a great cook, but he felt he may be a bit better than Lucius made him out to be. Remus and Nate rose up excitedly, practically throwing themselves into their chairs. Judas rolled his eyes but chuckled slightly at the two sides he had come to care for as his own family. He too sat down for dinner and served himself a small portion of food. He didn't eat nearly as much as the other two, and they always served themselves first. Looking up, however, he noticed that Remus had only taken a bite out of his food yet. That was odd, Remus typically ate even more rapidly than Nate.

"Is everything all right Remus?" Judas asked. Nate paused half way through shoveling just about half his plate into his mouth to look over at his friend.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." He nodded dramatically. "It's just-" He cut off abruptly, frowning slightly and stabbing at his food with his fork. "Logan and I broke up today." Nate nearly choked on the food he had just been about to swallow, and Judas was sure he would have too, had he taken a bite yet.

"The two of you were dating?" Judas asked.

"Well… no. Not really… I mean… I'm not sure what we were." Remus admitted, shaping the rice on his plate into a face with his fork. "I thought we were dating, but I guess we never really said we were. We just kina fucked a bunch of times."

"I guess that explains why he kept letting you into his room." Nate jeered.

"Yeah… we fucked like basically every time." Remus nodded shamelessly.

"So… what happened?" Judas asked. "Today." He added hastily when Remus's eyes lit up mischievously. Remus pouted.

"You're no fun." Then he sighed and said, "Logan told me that he didn't want to keep fucking with me." He shrugged. Judas felt his cheeks heat up slightly despite his best efforts.

"He said that?" He asked.

"Well, basically. What he actually said was," Remus pulled himself up into a stiffly straight posture and continued in a mock-Logan voice, "I don't feel that it would be within our best intrests to continue on with sexual relations in the future." Nate snickered and Judas rolled his eyes.

"Do you know why?" He asked softly.

"Oh, he probably found a better coping mechanism." Remus said offhandedly.

"What?" Nate asked, confusion evident in his voice. Judas felt even more confused than Nate sounded.

"I kinda knew he used sex to keep himself from hurting emotionally. Can't say it doesn't hurt to be rejected though." Remus shrugged.

"Dude, that's rough." Nate said.

"Nah, I'm basically over it." And with that, Remus set himself to scarf down his food as quickly as humanly possible. Judas felt strangely conflicted. He wanted to kick Logan's ass for doing that to Remus, he was absolutely too terrified to even go near Cunning Hall when Logan so clearly wanted to be left alone, he was sad for Remus that he was unhappy, and he was oddly satisfied and happy that Remus wasn't involved with Logan any longer. He hated feelings. Then again, who didn't. Remus and Nate were playfully fighting over the serving spoon for the fried rice, both already wanting seconds. Remus smiled slightly to himself. At least he'd gone through the conversation without embarrassing himself and choking on his food. He lifted his fork to his mouth, and as he was about to swallow, he heard an elegant, wintery voice from behind him say;

"Excuse my interruption, gentleman, but I figured I would drop into see you." He choked, because of course he did, and Remus and Nate froze.

"Logan!" Nate squeaked. "You're here! Awesome! You wanna come eat with us?" Judas noticed that Remus and Nate had both whipped their hands away from either of the serving spoons when Logan made himself known. Logan frowned.

"Exactly, what time is it? Do you know?" He asked.

"Uhm…" Judas looked at his watch. "It's not 7:53 PM." He replied, suddenly feeling slightly nervous. He knew logically that Logan was not going to lash out at any of them but he couldn't help but be terrified that if he did or said something wrong, Logan would hurt him. Besides, he technically was Chief Reign of Fear now, which meant only Lucius was higher up than him. Logan's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly in thought for a moment.

"I would love to, but unfortunately I do have business that must be attended to and it really cannot wait." He held up his hand for illustration, in which he held a journal. "Besides that, I fear I have impeded quite enough on Remus's enjoyment of the evening."

"No way!" Remus said, almost too quickly. "I want you to eat with us too." To that, Logan smiled softly.

"Thank you, Remus, I cannot tell you how happy I am that you harbor no ill feelings about the situation, but I really must take this to Lucius." The stench of a lie wafted through the air, and Logan locked eyes with Judas again.

"Please don't say anything." Logan's voice said, as his lips remained unmoving.

"Yes, sir." Judas replied mentally. Logan frowned slightly but nodded to the three of them, turned, and left.

What do you think was in the journal?" Nate mussed out loud once Logan was gone.

"I have a clue." Judas replied.

Logan wasn't bringing anything to Lucius. In fact, he knew Lucius would likely be angry with him if he knew what he was doing. Logan was sure he had figured out a fool proof way to bring Roman back, so he was going to the Light Domain to bring them his findings. It felt oddly surreal, to be in the position he was in. Here he was, Chief Reign of Fear, buzzed slightly from the whisky he had had a half an hour earlier and the after effects of the pills he'd taken again hours previous… right after he broke it off with Remus The Duke, taking a possible cure to a dead man to his enemy nation that also happened to be his very best friends. If someone had told him four months ago that he would ever end up this way, he would have directed them to a psychiatrist. Now, however, it seemed he was the one in need of a psychiatrist. paused at the main entrance to the Light Domain. Would they want to see him? Likely not, but they would want his information.

"Patton, Virgil" Logan called softly. "I have something that might be of interest to you." Surprisingly, Virgil was the first to respond. He'd appeared suddenly as usual, but glaring at him suspiciously the way he did to the other dark sides. Logan supposed he deserved that. Next, Patton rose up slowly, timidly, shying away from him ever so slightly. And Logan knew he deserved the stab of emotions directly through his chest, because anyone who could make Patton feel like that deserved pain and a long, excruciating death. Too bad he couldn't die. He opened his mouth intending to explain his presence, but Patton's squeak was enough to stop him.

"Oh, Logan, what happened to you!" He sobbed. Logan was struck in the chest by something heavy and found himself with a Pat wrapped around him. "You're so thin, you look like you haven't eaten in days!"

"I probably haven't." Logan replied honestly.

"Are they hurting you?" Virgil demanded immediately. "Did they make you go with them? They're forcing you into this aren't they?"

"No, no." Logan attempted to soothe them. "Nothing like that." He awkwardly hugged Patton back. Even now, he couldn't stop hurting everyone around him. Wonderful. "I've just been so busy wi-" Patton pulled away from him abruptly, but didn't back up any.

"Lo… why do you smell like alcohol?" He asked uncertainly.

"Likely because I was drinking not too long ago." He replied. Patton and Virgil both looked shocked. One more reason for them to hate him. "Now, I really must tell you, I believe I know how to bring back Roman in a way that will not traumatize him." Virgil and Patton both perked up at that.

"Really?" Patton asked excitedly.

"I told you I would be working on it, did you not believe me?" Logan wouldn't admit it, but he felt slightly hurt.

"Of course we believed you, kiddo!" Patton squeaked excitedly. "It's just so fast for something like that." Logan shrugged.

"I've been working almost non stop." He said in explanation. Patton's eyes widened in worry.

"Oh, kiddo." He sighed. "You slept and ate right?"

"Rarely." Logan shrugged. "But I should hurry and explain before Lucius realizes I'm not in the Dark Domain any longer."

"You're going against Lucius to bring Roman help?" Virgil asked.

"Of course… you don't think Lucius wants him well, do you?" Logan tilted his head slightly.

"Right." Virgil mumbled. Logan opened his journal.

"There are a few ways I can see that we can go about this. They all involve both of you and your abilities in corelation to your relationship with Roman. In order to understand why any of these will work, we have to-"

"Didn't you say you were in a hurry?" Logan stiffened at the sound of Winston's voice and snapped his journal shut. Winston was smiling serenely at him. "Perhaps leave the explanation for a later date."

"Perhaps you ought to come back at a later date. As in when I'm not here." Logan snipped.

Winston tutted, shaking his head.

"Where are your manners Logan?" He asked with humor in his voice.

"Back wherever the fuck my sanity is I suppose. Hanging from a noose somewhere." He bit back. Winston rolled his eyes.

"You think you could muster some sort of respect when you're not even one of us anymore." He wrinkled his nose at him as though he was looking at something that smelled rather unpleasant.

"Winston, that's a lot more than enough." Patton said suddenly. "Logan's still one of us, and he always will be." Winston huffed.

"Likely." He said sarcastically. "Light sides don't get high and drunk and fuck the first person willing to take them just because they can't handle a little bit of stress." Everything within Logan's vision blurred and dulled, besides Wimnstion who seemed colored far more vibrantly than normal. Everything seemed like it had slowed exponentially. He cast aside the journal, watching with disinterest as it came to rest by Patton's feet. He launched himself forward, grabbing Winston by the throat and thrusting him against the wall nearest them, relishing with a sick sort of satisfaction the resounding crunch that followed. Time was behaving normally again, and Logan snapped back to himself. Winston wasn't breathing properly, his face was red and his eyes looked almost glassy. He released him and stepped back. Patton's eyes were wide and holding emotions Logan could only guess at. Fear, hatred, disgust, anguish, likely all of those.

"I'm sorry." Logan said roughly. "That I'm not like you. I'm sorry that I can't be like you. I did try, I swear to you I did. But I'm not… good. And I'm sorry I couldn't be." He swept out of the Light Domain without looking back. They had the journal. One of the fixes had to work and they were all relatively easy to pull off. Roman would be fine.

The rotten stench of lies flooded Judas's senses, mingled with the fresh linen smell he'd come to associate with Winston. Wisdom was lying. To anyone else that would likely seem a shock, but Judas could always smell lies lingering around him, he just didn't know what they were about. When logan claimed that Winston wasn't really wisdom, Judas felt that he was likely on the right track, but he couldn't know for sure. Dinner had been over for a bit, but Judas was keeping some food warm on the stove for Logan when he got back. He knew the intellectual hadn't had nearly enough to eat for quite a while. The doors to the commons area flew open, banging against the walls, causing Judas to jump nearly out of his own skin. It was Logan, and he was clearly in a rage.

"Whatever he said to you was the truth." Judas said automatically. He definitely didn't want Logan so angry, especially when Remus and Nate were likely getting rowdy in the sitting room of the commons. Logan froze, blinked, and turned to look at Judas properly. The hurt and rage that were still swirling in his eyes was enough to kick Judas into his mom mode and he suddenly found himself ushering Logan into a seat and placing the food he'd kept in front of him. "Eat some dinner." He ordered. "I'm not going to make some tea for us, and I don't want you to tell me what happened." Logan was looking at him strangely, but nodded and began slowly eating. Judas smiled at him, then swept into the kitchen to make two mugs of tea. When he returned he was pleased to find that Logan had eaten at least a quarter of the plate already. He smiled approvingly at him again and gently slid the mug of tea across the table. "Now, tell me everything." And Logan, though seeming slightly hesitant, recounted how he had gone to give the light sides the processes he thought could cure Roman, how Winston had showed and provoked and baited him into attacking him, and how Patton had looked so scared and so disgusted at what Logan had done. Judas nodded sympathetically. "I have no idea how that feels." He said softly. "I know if you were aware, but Roman and I were not very close at all when we were young, and when my scales started appearing it brought us much closer together. He didn't think I was some insane monster or anything like that." Logan nodded in what Judas dared to mentally describe as glumly. But then he froze and sat impossibly straighter.

"I'm like you." He whispered. Judas didn't know what the truth was here, much less did he know what Logan wanted to hear. It appeared he didn't have to say anything though, because Logan's face broke into a small, reserved smile. "That's it! We're alike! Thank you so much Judas, you have no idea what you've just contributed to." He jumped up to his feet. "I'll be back out tomorrow morning." And he rushed off toward his room. Judas blinked, then looked back down at the table. Logan had eaten almost half of his food and barely touched his tea. Judas shook his head and busied himself with clearing the table and washing dishes. At least Logan said he was going to be back tomorrow morning.

True to his word, Logan was out of his room again that morning. And he was the first one awake, practically breaking down Judas's door with the enthusiasm of which he knocked on it. Judas, trying his best not to grumble or seem grumpy, opened the door to see Logan with his arms full of charts, diagrams, and journals.

"Uhh…"

"Shh, shh, shh, wait." Logan shushed him enthusiastically. "I figured it out! I can give you your ability to choose back!"

"What?" Judas asked.

"I can give you back your ability to tell the truth." He clarified.

"W- wha- really?" Judas sputtered. The prospect of being able to truly voice what was in his head was too great for him to fully comprehend. He didn't remember what it was like to speak freely. He didn't remember what it was like to be able to choose. He wanted to feel it again so badly.

"Judas, you know I'm not lying." Logan smirked confidently. "Now, it's a difficult and long process, but it isn't painful in the slightest and I have teste-"

"How did you test it?" Judas interrupted without thinking. He flinched when he realized what he did, expecting Logan to hit him, or worse decide he wasn't going to fix him after all, but relaxed slightly when he only smiled softly and somewhat detachedly at him. He chuckled a bit and replied;

"I stole Lucius's spell book, cursed myself, and cured it." Judas felt his jaw drop and a new found awe and appreciation for Logan's stubborn determination and spectacular intelligence roared to life within him.

"I- you- you did that? For me?" Judas felt himself tearing up an damnit if he didn't try to stop, but no one had ever tried to do anything like this for him before.

"Of course, Judas." Logan gestured for him to seat himself on the floor. "I want to help you. You were good to me when I arrived here, I didn't expect it, and you were ready to defend me. You, Remus, and Nate. The three of you can consider yourselves under my protection. Judas felt his face growing warm, but he felt he should tell Logan exactly how the dark domain works. It wasn't quite fair for him, seeing as he had come from such a place as the Light Domain. He wouldn't just assume or naturally understand what big of a sacrifice that was to them.

"Logan… I don't at all feel you should know… well, that's something dark sides do. It isn't seen as a sign of weakness to be protected by someone else. The dark one will be happy, and he's not likely to target you for it." He said softly. Logan frowned slightly and nodded.

"I understand that Judas, and if it insults you it isn't necessary, but I assure you, Lucius poses no threat to me." His voice was confident and factual, and Judas couldn't smell even a hint of uncertainty about his statement.

"In that case, I don't appreciate your protection." Judas said sheepishly. Logan smiled softly again.

"Wonderful." He held out his hands and Judas took them, feeling slightly silly sitting cross legged on the floor like he was. "This is a less scientific approach than I would have cared for, but it does work and that's what matters." Logan confided in him. Judas smiled and tried to nod in agreement. Instead, he shook his head, but he knew Logan understood. Loogan confidently smirked back at him and Judas felt his cheeks heating again. Even if Judas wasn't interested in him at all, he had to admit, Logan was kinda sexy. He closed his eyes slowly, the smirk still in place. Judas swallowed nervously, and as he was ready to close his eyes, he noticed pockmarks littering the left hand side of Logan's face. Daring to push his luck and curious beyond belief, Judas asked;

"Logan… what happened to your face?" Logan's eyes snapped open, and for one horrifying second, Judas thought he was angry with him. Instead, Logan frowned as though confused. After another second, his eyes lit up in recognition.

"Oh, yes!" He said. "I'd forgotten. When the curse was placed upon me the left side of my body was covered in brown feathers, similarly, I believe, to your scales. I plucked every single one off after I lifted the curse." Judas blanched.

"Are you okay? That can't have hurt!" Logan waved him off.

"It was nothing." He said. And Judas didn't catch a whiff of deception from him. "You do not have to remove your scales after I lift the curse for the cure to be successful, however if you wish to have them removed I am more than happy to aid you." Judas thought for a moment. He hated his scales, always had, but he had had them for so long and Lucius hadn't intended to give them to him as part of the curse. They felt like a part of him now, like his hair or his fingers, and they also made his discolored eye look less… random and awkward. But they were still a mark of how he'd been branded by evil. He didn't know what he wanted. "You don't have to decide now, we'll cure you first and you can take all the time you need to decide." Logan said softly, reaching out for his hands again. "And if you choose to keep them and at any time you change your mind, the offer will still be open." Judas felt a huge rush of gratitude as he gently placed his hands in Logans'. "Close your eyes, Judas." Logan instructed softly. Judas obeyed the command. "All you have to do is focus on your breathing." Logan told him. "If you relax, it will help along the spell." His voice was soft and soothing and Judas was close to falling asleep. "I'll lead you through so breathing exercises to start with, okay?" Judas would have nodded, but that would require moving, and he really didn't feel like it right then. "Breathe in, two, three, four." Logan counted softly, his voice drifting away until it sounded like he might be talking calmly from across a gently moving river. "Breathe out, two, three, four." His voice continued to get quieter and quieter until Judas vaguely noted that he had probably fallen asleep. He hoped he hadn't ruined the spell.

Judas woke later than his usual time of seven thirty. It was around nine and he was feeling thoroughly disappointed. He was in bed, under the covers, in his black and yellow pyjamas just like every other morning and thus, he came to the conclusion that he had dreamed that meeting with Logan. Of course he did, good things didn't happen to him. So he got dressed and made to go to the kitchen to make breakfast for the others, hoping that Logan would come out of his room and eat with them. That side really did need to put on some weight. He opened his door, and the sweet smell of crepes hit him like a train. Who the fuck was cooking? Was it Logan? He swept into the kitchen, cursing himself for sleeping in. What if Nate or Remus caught the stove on fire and hurt themselves? And who the hell in the Dark Side knew how to make crepes? The scene he expected to see in the kitchen was a disaster. Ingredients and tools all over the floor and counters, burn marks and scorched towels and washcloths. What he actually saw upon entering was sparkling clean countertops, and empty, clean sink, and a plate on the table with a stack of warm, sweet smelling crepes and a folded note written in neat, looping cursive that could probably pass as calligraphy. Curious and slightly confused, but fairly sure the note wasn't for him, Judas snatched in up and read it. 'I made breakfast for the others since you fell asleep, we've already eaten so you don't have to worry about us. Have as many as you like, there's a custard in the fridge, make sure you get some protein. -L' Judas felt his heart warm. Logan had thought of him even though he was asleep and could easily make his own breakfast when he woke. He smiled, took a plate from the cupboard and a fork from the cutlery drawer, sat down, and bit into one of the soft, still warm pasties. It was the very best thing Judas had ever tasted in his life. The pastry sheet was sweet and soft with just a little bit of crisp to the very edges and Logan had, predictably, filled it with Crofters jam. Specifically, the strawberry one. The second one he had taken had been filled with chocolate cream and sliced strawberries. The third was blueberries, cream, and honey. Judas put the plate with the rest of them back in the fridge, covering it with a glass bowl so they would be protected and, remembering Logan's note he did take the custard out and ate part of it. That too was utterly delightful. It had maple syrup and brown sugar mixed in and tasted heavenly. He put plastic wrap over the custard cup and put that back in the fridge as well. Then another thought occurred to him. Logan had written "since you fell asleep" in his note, which would indicate Judas had been awake earlier and Logan was distinctly notorious for being very specific. Maybe- he hardly dared to get his hopes up- just maybe, it wasn't a dream at all. He decided to test it.

"I can tell the truth." He said. For a split second he was overjoyed, but then he realized that that could be a lie and he didn't know it. He was about to try something else when a resounding crash shook the ground coming from the fathomless room. The fathomless room was called that because the walls and ceiling there were so high you couldn't see where they ended, and though Remus claimed to have found the top after climbing for four straight days, Judas believed no one would ever see the end to it. He rushed into the room, expecting to have to break up a fight or bandage Nate or Remus up again, but instead he found Logan kneeling by a dazed looking Nate lecturing both him and Remus on why ziplines further than six feet off the ground definitively needed harnesses while seeming to be checking Nate for a concussion. Confused, Judas looked up. Sure enough there was a very frail looking make-shift zipline secured between the walls, starting at, at least eleven feet off the ground. Logan made a tutting noise, apparently deciding Nate was okay and helping him to his feet. He narrowed his eyes up at the rope that made the zipline and shook his head.

"Besides," He added. "This is all wrong." Remus and Nate pouted but didn't protest which could only be a testament to how scared of Logan they were. "Tell you what." He said, closing his eyes. "The three of you clear out for an hour or two and I'll have a fully functioning, perfectly calibrated zipline waiting here." Nate and Remus's eyes lit up.

"Really?" Remus asked excitedly, nearly dancing on the spot.

"I don't see why not." Logan shrugged. "I needed something to do today."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Judas asked automatically.

"Well, right now it isn't." Logan said, thoughtfully. "The angle of trajectory is all off, you can't build up the proper amount of speed with that slope. There's nowhere to properly push off or stop, I'd need to put together a harness, and of course I'd have to use steel cables. Ropes are just simply too unreliable, and don't even get me started on that… thing they have in place of a stop block." Logan grinned. "I think having a zipline here is a marvelous idea, but it has to be done right."

"Can we help?" Nate asked. Logan began shooing them towards the door.

"Please, allow me. I've wanted to build something like this for years, and it would be incredibly dull work for you anyway, there's a lot of math and physics involved. Sheets and sheets of numbers, I don't think you'd be interested." Nate nodded in agreement.

"Thanks!" He called, as Logan closed the door. "Judas, did you eat?" Logan turned to him with a caring look.

"Yes." Judas replied. Then he felt his eyes widen. "Oh my god it worked!"

"Always with the tone of surprise." Logan said playfully.

"My god, Logan, thank you!" Judas felt as though his chest might explode with all the emotions he was feeling. "You're amazing! Thank you! Thank you!" He wrapped his arms around the slightly smaller side, hardly even registering that he was doing that.

"You're welcome Judas." Logan replied, giving him a small, slightly awkward squeeze in return. Judas stepped back for him, embarrassed.

"Will you cover for me if I go to the light side and just start yelling everything I've always wanted to say to them?" He asked, too excited to care about what Logan might think about him doing that. Logan nodded.

"You're helping me with the zipline by collecting necessary tools for me from the subconscious."

"Thank you!" Judas yipped again. "I appreciate it. And I appreciate that I can say that!" Logan chuckled.

"Okay, okay." He said fondly, gently directing Judas out the door. "Go bother the light sides and tell them I sent you." Judas grinned.

"Sure thing!"

Of course when he got to the Light Domain and stated quite plainly and bluntly that Logan had sent them to bug him. Virgil and Patton didn't think he was telling the truth, and all of the compliments he was saying to them were taken as insults- though in fairness quite a few of them were back handed- until he stated a plain fact that got them all to believe he could now tell the truth. He then took to following Patton around for an hour and a half, talking non-stop. He felt a bit like Remus, but honestly he couldn't give a shit, because he could actually say and express that. Like, out loud! Was he entirely sure he was probably still going to lie a lot after the novelty of telling the truth wore off? Yes. But right now he just wanted to scream everything he could before at the top of his lungs. Patton finally convinced Judas to leave them alone for awhile by saying that Winston had finally puzzled out one of Logan's ideas for a way to bring Roman back to life and that he was needed to test it. He was telling the truth, no surprise there, so Judas left to go bug Thomas. He announced his presence by yelling quite loudly;

"I fucking love you!" And pulling him into a tight hug randomly from behind.

"Holy heck Judas!" Thomas squeaked. "Wait… if you're so mad at me, why are you hugging me?"

"I'm not mad." Judas shook his head. "Logan fixed me." He said proudly.

"How do I know that's the truth?" Thomas asked suspiciously.

"Your name is Thomas Sanders, your birthday is April 24, 198, and you are currently wearing your favorite shirt." Judas replied.

"Woah! Judas, that's so cool!" Thomas exclaimed loudly. "I'm so happy for you!"

"I appreciate your support and I love that I can tell you that!" He said honestly. "Do you know how freeing this is?" He asked.

"No, but I can imagine!" Thomas replied excitedly.

"... Judas would think about this." Lucius's voice drifted into Judas's awareness.

"Hold on someone's talking about me." He told Thomas, concentrating on Lucius's voice.

"Ugh, where is he? Judas! Come here!"

"The dark one is summoning me." He said quickly. "I'm sorry I can't stay." And he sunk into the throne room to see what his ruler wanted him for. "My liege?" He questioned. He would have to be careful and not let Lucius know that he could tell the truth again. Good thing Deceit was literally his middle name.

"Judas, good, where were you?" He demanded sharply.

"I was not helping Logan by collecting supplies from the subconscious for him while he did calculations for his project." He replied steadily. Lucius nodded absently.

"And what exactly is this project of his?" He followed up.

"He is not making a zipline in order to entertain Remus and Nate." He answered.

"And why would he do this?" Lucius asked.

"I don't believe that he wanted them to be quieter and to break less things while he worked or read." Judas replied, hoping that Logan would have the sense to formulate some sort of excuse like that. Lucius nodded.

"Were you aware that someone has been making trips to the Light Domain?" He asked sharply.

"I was, my lord." Judas swallowed unconsciously. Lucius frowned but nodded again.

"Were you aware that someone had stolen my spell book?" He asked again. Judas nearly froze up. Of course Logan didn't ask Lucius for his spell book, he had enough sense to know the dark kind would never allow it.

"I was." He replied, hoping his momentary pause didn't seem suspicious. Lucius's frown deepened. "Is it at all possible that it was misplaced?" He asked timidly. Lucius glared at him, then sighed and rested his chin on his hand.

"I suppose so. I have had a lot going on lately." He replied.

"I hadn't noticed, my lord." Judas said earnestly. "It can't be exhausting and overwhelming ruling over us dark sides on your own. Logan may not be able to help you. He doesn't possess a unique power to be able to reach across Thomas's mind to acquire lost or far away objects." That way Logan couldn't be caught stealing the book.

"Then why did he ask you to collect objects from the subconscious?" He asked suspiciously.

"His power extends to the subconscious." Judas replied immediately. Lucius nodded, clearly buying the excuse.

"That sounds to be a solid idea." He commented. "And even if it was stolen, Logan will still be able to retrieve it, correct?"

"I don't believe so." Judas replied.

"Good, good." Lucius said absently. "Logan." He called. Logan rose up slowly and gracefully, straightening out his cape as he did so.

"You called?" He swept into an elegant bow.

"I seem to have misplaced something of great importance." Lucius said tiredly. "It's my spell book, I need you to retrieve it for me. Judas says you have a gift for finding lost and stolen objects."

"Of course, majesty." Logan bowed gracefully again. His eyes fell closed and he reached his hand out to his side. His hand dissolved and fully disappeared before reforming quickly with a spell book in his grasp. "My lord," He knelt and offered the book up to Lucius who graced him with a pleased but malicious grin.

"Thank you, Logan, now go, both of you." Judas scrambled out of the hall, Logan walking professionally behind him with a refined smirk and confident posture. Neither of them said a word until they were three hallways away from the throne room, then Judas exploded.

"That was crazy!" He whisper-screamed. Logan chuckled lowly and lightly. His smirk had turned to more of a smile.

"What? You haven't deceived your master before?" He asked quietly.

"I couldn't have, I didn't have the option." Judas reminded him. Logan froze. His face was utterly blank until an almost calculating look took over it.

"Of course." He mumbled. "I need to talk to Caesar." Judas blanched.

"Caesar?" He asked. He knew that he was one of the two responsible for Logan's trauma and suffering. "Are you sure?" Logan nodded absently. But then he stopped.

"Not yet. I need to be sure first. If word gets to the dark one…" Logan was muttering like he wasn't even talking to Judas. "Nevermind, come help me with the ziplines." Logan's mannerisms changed entirely and he was back to a semi cheery professional. Judas felt as though he had gotten whiplash from the change but just nodded anyway. They walked on toward the fathomless room.

"Wait, ziplines… as in plural?" Judas asked him. Logan grinned.

"I may have gotten carried away." He said sheepishly. Judas felt his jaw drop as they entered the commons area. All the doors to the rooms had been taken off of their frames. There were large holes expertly carved in the stone far above them where steel cables criss crossed never getting closer than about seven feet from each other and sturdy looking wooden platforms were secured to the walls with large metal bolts and what looked to be steel support beams. On each platform there were boxes overflowing with stop block handlebars and harnesses. There was a single zipline that ended only three feet above the ground in this room that connected the vast network above with the ground.

"How the fuck did you do all this in under three hours?" Judas asked amazed.

"I sent Nate and Remus off to the imagination on a special mission that is entirely unnecessary and pointless and used my telekinesis and perception bending abilities to set all this up. All we really need now are some ladders up to the lowest platforms and bridges connecting the others. By the way, the kitchen is the only room in the commons area that doesn't have the zipline network in it. You can get to it directly on one of them, but I felt ziplining around knives and potentially hot stove tops was unwise." He explained factually.

"Holy shit!" Judas crowed. "That's awesome." Logan smiled proudly, straightening his posture.

"I thought it would make an adequate Christmas gift for Remus and Nate." He divulged.

"They'll love it." Judas said earnestly.

"They're going to be back in an hour, so I do need to finnish up and have it in working order so they can test it. If you'd like to help you're welcome to." Logan smiled softly. He made his way over to stand below the lowest platform in the room.

"Sure I'll help." Judas said quickly.

Nate and Remus were checking in on the condition of the imagination. Apparently, Logan needed the insight on Roman's state of mind in order to track the progress of some sort of project Logan had launched. They didn't understand the specifics, but Logan told them he'd have been surprised if Wisdom could understand them, and all they had to do was go to every place on the checklist, describe the aura it gave off, and snap a picture. There were a lot of places on the list and it would likely take them a few hours, but they were happy for a few reasons. One, they got to go running around a dark, broken down version of the imagination like psychos. Two, they were helping Logan who had quickly become part of their little family. And three, the zipline would be done when they returned. There was one place left on the checklist. The lair of the dragon witch. Remus had his mace ready and Nate was practically armed to the teeth. He had heard Roman's stories of the huge dragon with the warty green scales and the deadly magical spells it cast upon its enemies. He was ready to fight tooth and nail to get back out of there. Normally, he wouldn't have gone - probably only because Judas wouldn't let him, if he was honest he was itching at the chance to fight her- but Logan said this overview was a necessity and that he would have gone but he felt Remus was better suited for the job. The two of them, quietly as possible, slunk into the cave of the dragon witch. They were shocked at what they found. They would have assumed it had been one of her victims if not for the tattered witch's hat and cape. It was the gargantuan skeleton of a long deceased dragon. One of the toe bones was bigger than Nate's entire arm. Remus snapped a picture and Nate began jotting notes down about the bone-chilling sorrow and spine gripping fear that perpetuated the air.

"Let's get this back to Logan and see if that zipline is up and functioning yet." Nate suggested. Remus held up his finger, signalling for him to wait a minute. He climbed up the skull of the dragon, wiggled out three of her teeth, and attempted to shove them in the bag he'd brought with him. "That won't fit." Nate called up to him.

"I'll make it fit!" Remus declared. And apparently he succeeded, because the teeth disappeared after a moment. "Logan will go batshit over these!" Remus grinned.

"Yeah…" Nate agreed after a minute. "What if we brought back living imaginary animals for him to observe? All the normal ones are dead without Roman's magic and all the weird ones are mutating. He'll want to know why, right?"

"Totally!" Remus agreed. "Look! There's one!" He pounced down from the skull onto a rat-lizard-bird hybrid that was scrabbling across the stone. He wrestled with it for a second- It was slightly bigger than a football- until he finally had it around the stomach, with two fingers on either sides of its throat.

"We could just bait them into cages." Nate suggested.

"What cages?" Remus challenged.

"Bro! You're a creatiwin! We're literally in the Creativity!" Nate sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh yeah." Remus grinned and conjured a cage for the specimen he'd acquired.

The hold on Roman had been weakening rapidly over the last half an hour. Someone had to be trying to cure him. That couldn't be allowed to happen.

"Guardians and ghosts and spirits of the land, by new, crescent, full moon light, demonstrate for me your might and return this cursed soul to my hand." The cauldron in the center of the room began to bubble over, and an all might wailing, painful sound echoed around the room. The marinet Roman had made of himself for the Learning New Things About Ourselves video was suspended over the cauldron by one of his sashes tied around its neck like a nuse.

Nate and Remus were fighting with each other, pushing and shoving to be the first one into the Dark Domain Entrance to deliver the information and specimens to Logan. Logan was waiting there for them, his sleeve rolled up above his elbows, secured with little buckles that Nate had hardly noticed he'd added to his sleeves. He had taken off his cape and chains as well, which he was now putting back on.

"Oh there you are boys, did you complete the list?" He asked pleasantly. Nate and Remus both nodded eagerly, scrambling to show their new Chief Reign of Fear how well they'd done on their first assignment.

"I even brought back bits and pieces for you to study if you wanted." Remus bragged.

"Hey, what?" Nate yipped. "It was my idea!"

"No way!" Remus argued. "It was totally mine."

"No need to argue, both of you did very well." Logan said with a slight fond hint to his voice. "I knew you would. What kind of things did you bring back?" There was a small note of curiosity this time. Nate and Remus beamed devilishly as they proudly showed off the caged animals and the plant clippings and dragon teeth they'd collected. Both of them noticed and took pride in the way Logan's eyes lit up.

"That's spectacular!" He declared. I'm going to take these to my lab-" Remus cut him off with a hasty;

"We can help!" Logan smiled.

"Thank you." He told them. "I will likely be studying these for at least an hour before I go to make lunch-" He was then interrupted by Judas saying;

"I can make lunch!" In an almost anxious tone. Remus and Nate both blinked, confused.

"Of course you can make lunch." Nate said dumbly.

"Why can't you? Do you have dysentery?" Remus followed. Judas flushed on the human side of his face.

"I think we would all know if one of us fell to dysentery." Logan began. "And Judas was not claiming to be unable to make lunch. Earlier this morning, I cured him," He said pleasantly, "but don't you go mentioning that to the dark one." He finished sternly. Nate and Remus's eyes widened in awe.

"Yes, sir!" Remus said giving Logan a mock salute. Nate seemed to be struggling with something in an almost physical way.

"Oh, yes of course." Logan said. "I'd forgotten." He slipped a vial out from the pocket of his shirt, it was full of a thick, purple liquid. "If you drink this in one go, it will reverse the effects of the potion Lucius forced down your throat when we were young." He offered it to Nate who, without question or hesitation, downed it. Logan smiled at him.

"Better?" He questioned.

"Dude, what the fuck? I didn't even realize I was so tense before!" Nate claimed. "I feel fucking fantastic!" Logan smiled proudly.

"Wonderful! Now, if you two will help me set up all these cages in my lab, you can go check out the ziplines or whatever else you wanted to do until lunch. Judas, you can help me if you want to, but I do enjoy cooking." Everyone nodded with an affirmative, then Nate said;

"Hold up! Did you say ziplines? With an s?" He asked. Logan just smirked and led them into the commons area, where their two jaws dropped. Logan and Judas had gone a little overboard with ladders and rope bridges. Judas even suggested rope swings, but Logan shot that down as incredibly risky. There were nooks in the walls filled with cushions and pillows with nets around them both for climbing and to catch someone incase they lost their footing. The zipline network had become more complex, with all the green cables drawing the rider upward along the line (courtesy of a bit of perception bending). There were tiny, thin, red cables in pulley system set ups with baskets and some sort of very tiny sky bucket cars on the platforms they connected to- which were also pretty small. Logan gestured to these, explaining he was training his rat friend Daylan to 1) respond to his name and come when called and 2) ride a sky bucket up and down to different nooks. Remus and Nate were speechless for a minute, then Remus lost it.

"Holy shit! That's so fucking cool!" He was already starting towards the nearest ladder when Judas grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.

"Hold on a minute, you told Logan you'd help him move everything into his room." Judas said sternly.

"Oh, let them go." Logan said dismissively. "I have telekinesis." He picked up the notebook and camera in his hands, and the cages and carrying cases floated up out of Nate's arms and off of the ground.

"I can help you set them all up." Judas offered.

"Thank you." Logan said to him.

Logan's room had a clean, crisp, surgical smell to it, like a hospital. He had shelves and long white tables lining the walls. The amount of white in the room was overpowering and almost felt blinding. One corner of the room- he had moved things around a little- had his bed. That side had a more homely look to it and looked actually liveable. The bed was beautiful and immaculately put together with ebony posts, a dark blue comforter, and shiny gold throw pillows that looked like they were made of silk. There was a black, soft-looking rug covering the floor of that small corner. Next to the bed was an ebony nightstand. There was a lamp on it, a small, dainty, practical, silver one, as well as a silver crown and two large, leather bound books. On the shelf area of this corner of the room, there was a large wire cage that had several platforms with places for climbing and, mirrors, little animal toys, a good dish, a water bottle, a slightly smaller version of a hamster wheel, and the cute creature that apparently lived there. He was a chubby rat with extremely round eyes and a smooth, clean coat of brownish grey fur. The little label on the cage- because of course Logan would label his pet's cage- said 'Daylan'. To the left of the cage was what seemed to be an ebony sliding door that Judas was pretty sure was a closet. There was a large desk on the closest corner of the rug. That too was made of ebony and shone as though it were regularly polished or cleaned (seeing as this was Logan's room that was very possible). It was positioned so the chair at it was positioned between the bed and it, but it looked like it was the kind that had many drawers. What Judas could see of it's surface was mostly taken up by organized chaos. Papers and charts and journals and pens and pencils and, surprisingly, two bottles of whiskey, one empty and one half full, an empty glass, and a pill bottle. Seemingly oblivious to Judas's reaction to seeing that, Logan was directing the cages to different spots on the surrounding counter. Judas mentally shook himself and went to help place and position them. The creatures were incredibly odd looking ones, he expected that when Remus seemed excited, they all seemed to be some sort of mashed-up hybrid of normal and common animals. Besides two of them. One was a seemingly perfectly normal snake and the other was a strange puff ball with peach colored feet that kept giving off high pitched humming and whistling sounds. Logan thanked Judas earnestly after everything was set up and ushered him out in a friendly way with a promise to help with lunch. Oddly enough, Logan exited the room as well.

"I'm off to find some equipment from the subconscious." He said in explanation. He grabbed hold of a pair of handlebars, and was drawn upwards of the green cable they hung on.

"What happened to harnesses?" Judas called up to him, amused. He assumed Logan wasn't going to answer, but when he was almost through the hole and in to the next room, he called back;

"Screw harnesses!"


	36. Christmas

Chapter Seven

Christmas

A/N With the addition of this chapter, I should reach 100,00 words, this would not have happened if it wasn't for the support I was receiving in comments, favorites, and follows. I didn't understand, before, why authors would say that comments would inspire them to write more, because before this I rarely received comments on work I posted. I took a look at the comments again very recently, and reading them flipped a switch and gave me the inspiration I needed to keep writing. This is the longest and most complex story I've ever devised, and there's plenty more to come. I want to take this moment, since 100,000 words is such a big milestone for me as a writer, to thank my readers and my followers. 52 people are following this story. 55 people favorited it. That might not be a lot compared to more popular fanfictions but for me, that's huge. This fanfiction has almost 19,000 views! That is actually insane. I hope you like this chapter, a lot of love went into it.

Additional A/N So…the newest name reveal… JANUS! I love it! I changed his name to his proper one for this chapter, I'm like geeking out so hard gaahhahewhfukhadhwshdhfhi I'll probably put a reason in there or I just won't. That is a possibility.

Christmas was quickly approaching and Logan seemed to be getting in the spirit of things. He'd been making trips back and forward from the Light Domain, driving Lucius insane with it. He'd fixed up a few of the rooms in the commons to be more cheery(sparkling icicles and floating candles that produced no heat), and only went back in his room to sleep. He insisted that Janus take it easy for while, seeing as he'd been caring for the other dark sides by himself for years, and made the meals for the others in increasing complexity and impressiveness. Janus didn't think he'd ever be able to learn to cook as well as Logan did and, though he knew Remus and Nate wouldn't complain about food so long as they were being fed, he felt that it would be almost unfair to take up his old duties again if Logan still wished to continue them. He was beginning to feel obsolete, and the phrase he'd once spoken to Roman when they were young kept badgering him relentlessly; "Lies are just inferior truths." Wasn't Logan a beacon of truth and fact? Wasn't Janus just a pale, inferior imitation of the intellectual trait? But Logan, insightful as ever, seemed to sense that Janus felt like this. He'd taken it upon himself to remind Janus how much he meant to the other three. He was constantly thanking and encouraging Janus in practically everything he did, whether he was running errands for Lucius, cleaning up after Remus, keeping Nate in line, or fussing over Logan to make him take care of himself. Nate had taken to similar behaviour, though his thanks and compliments came much more randomly placed and delivered in more interesting ways. Even Remus, in his own way, had picked up on the practice. He'd taken to leaving dead animals outside Janus's door-which he typically fed to his pet snakes- with little notes that were slightly creepy, seeing as they were made of cut newspaper clippings and held a few oddly specific details about his life, but sweet all the same. He'd also picked up the habit of trailing his fingers somewhat creepily over Janus's shoulders, but the deceitful trait found he didn't mind it as much as he should have. Janus had never, in his life, felt more appreciated. All the same, he had not expected anything much different of this year's Christmas. Logan, he was sure, would insist on making the Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinners, but Janus really wanted to and was just as certain that he could convince Logan to let him. He was fairly sure that would be the only difference. Janus had found and created presents for everyone in the few days leading up to Christmas Eve. He had absolutely no idea what Logan would want aside from jam and books, but he sincerely hoped that the newly appointed cunning trait would enjoy what he had collected for him. Logan had become somewhat boisterous over the weeks he was out of his room. He was using the zipline just as often as the other two, and could be seen hanging upside down from them at one point or another, but he seemed to be just as responsible as usual when it came to the others. He cleaned and bandaged a cut Nate had acquired, refusing to let the rebel 'just walk it off', he'd calmed Remus when he'd entered into a manic panic over something Janus couldn't understand, he scolded the boys for chasing each other with knives without making them feel like children, he seemed to take a special liking to helping Janus with daily activities like cleaning and disinfecting, and he insisted- to the delight of the other two- that if any dangerous or risky activities were to take place, he should be invited. The night before Christmas eve found the Dark Sides without Lucius. They all pretended to be sad to hear he had to disappear on a study over Christmas, but were all secretly relieved. That night, they celebrated together about Lucius's brief departure. In a strange twist of events, and to the immense joy of Remus and Nate, Logan had brought out several bottles of tequila for them all to share. Janus, resigning to be the responsible one yet again, had about half a glass of a spiked soda drink all together whereas the other three started off the party with a shot contest. Surprisingly, Logan won. Nate had ducked out of the contest after six and Remus threw up after nine. Janus knew Remus had an unnaturally high alcohol resistance, but nine was definitely the most he'd ever had all at once. Janus was, therefore, entirely shocked when Logan only dropped after ten. He was fairly sure that it was entirely impossible to not be very ill after that much alcohol, but maybe it was different for sides. Logan passed out five minutes after the contest, and Nate, having continued to sip off glasses of drinks even though he felt ill, followed suit roughly ten minutes later. Janus moved both of them to their respective rooms, mumbling about how irresponsible they'd been but smiling fondly all the while. He came back out to the commons, and that left him with a highly intoxicated Remus who, in Janus's opinion, was actually very cute when tipsy. He giggled much more softly and airily than usual after drinking and became just a little bit clingy. This particular night, seeing as Remus was particularly drunk, he was particularly adorable. He was cuddling into Janus's side and grumbling about something, with a cute pout on his face. His cheeks were bright pink and his eyes were sparkling brightly, even while his expression contradicted that. Suddenly, he sat up and looked Janus in the eyes.

"I have to tell you something." He told him seriously.

"Alright." Janus humored him. "What is it?"

"I fucking love you." He replied forcefully, his words slurring a little bit. Janus smiled at him.

"I love you too Remus." He said gently, brushing a lock of the duke's hair away from his eyes.

"No." He said. "You don't get it." He shifted forward and Janus found himself practically pinned to the couch by Remus's hands and knees. "I love you." He growled roughly. With almost no hesitation he swooped down and attacked Janus's mouth sloppily with his own. Janus didn't have the heart to fend him off. It had nothing to do with the fact that he liked him, he told himself, because he did not take advantage of drunk people. It had nothing to do with how much he enjoyed the kiss, because this wasn't about him. When they broke apart, Remus's eyes were gleaming dangerously.

"Oi!" Someone said from the corner. Virgil was back. He was leaning against the wall, smirking at the two of them. "Tomorrow is Christmas eve." He told them.

"Yes." Janus agreed, slipping out of Remus's grasp. "Tomorrow is Christmas eve."

"Us light sides are having a party." Virgil informed him.

"And?" Remus said moodily, pouting.

"Patton sent me to invite you guys." He shrugged.

"What?" Janus blinked.

"All of you are invited. Except Lucius. He's not welcome." Virgil clarified.

"Oh." Was all Janus said.

"Where's Logan and Nate?" He asked him, almost suspiciously.

"Asleep." Janus replied evenly. That was technically true, he supposed.

"Already?" The suspicion in Virgil's voice increased.

"Yeah they did a lot today." Janus said.

"We had a drinking contest." Remus informed Virgil, draping himself unceremoniously over Janus's lap.

"Logan actually participated?" Virgil sounded highly dubious.

"And he won." Remus nodded.

"Mhm." Virgil still sounded as though he didn't believe a single word. "Anyway, pass the message along, will you?" He said.

"Sure." Janus assured him. Virgil hesitated for a minute then gave Janus an unsure smile that Janus returned as warmly as possible. Remus waved him off impatiently, grabbing Janus roughly by the shoulders and pulling him into another bruising kiss. Janus distinctly heard an over exaggerated faux gagging coming from where Virgil was standing, so- and purely just to spite him, not because he was enjoying the kiss- he moved his hands to Remus's shoulders and made a lewd noise into his mouth, smirking slightly when he felt the energy of the room shift; knowing that Virgil was gone.

When Janus woke the morning of Christmas eve, his lower back was sore, but he took pleasure in knowing that he would be the only one without an awful hangover. It only took about five minutes to freshen himself up, and then he left Remus's room for the kitchen. In all honesty, he was both giddy and scared for what would happen when Remus woke up. Would he remember what had happened last night and what they said to each other? Did Janus want him to remember? What if Remus didn't really mean it and he was just trying to get in his pants? Worse, what if he had meant it, but changed his mind? Even Remus would rather not share his bed with Janus after he'd shared it with someone like Logan in the past. Oh god what if he-

"Janus! Chill, your aura feels like mine after Thomas falls down a flight of stairs in front of a bunch of strangers." Virgil was sitting at the counter, leaning on it with the tiniest hint of an amused smile about his face. Logan was standing on the other side of the counter, smiling pleasantly (Pleasantly!) and it was abundantly clear he was not suffering from a hangover. Janus felt his cheeks begin to heat up, and he fought down the blush.

"Hello, Virgil." Janus said in as pleasant a voice as he could muster that early in the morning. "What brings you here?"

"Hypervigilance." He said with all seriousness. "I was worried about Logan and I didn't believe your story from last night…" He shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry." He added begrudgingly.

"That's fair." Janus nodded. "It was extremely out of character for him." Virgil nodded in agreement, eyes flitting over to Logan briefly and back to Janus.

"Virgil was telling me about the Christmas party tonight," Logan began, "and all about how us dark sides get to go too."

"What!?" Nate was standing in the doorway, a big grin on his face. "We get to go? That's awesome!" Logan bobbed his head slightly.

"I'm quite glad we will be attending." Logan agreed. "It will be a great opportunity to help bridge the gap, as one might say, between the dark and light domains." Remus dropped down from the ceiling, landing face down on the floor. He looked up at Virgil without moving the rest of his body and grinned a shit-eating grin.

"Boo." Virgil had flinched when Remus had hit the ground but was now looking at him with disinterest, clearly unimpressed.

"Patton's really excited about this Christmas." Virgil began, sweeping a biting gaze over the collected dark sides. "If something goes wrong I'll be holding you accountable." Logan noticed that Virgil avoided eye contact with him, even though he stared down the other three. Surprisingly, it was Janus who replied;

"Oh of course, we're being invited so you have a villain to blame."

"Come now, Janus," Logan began, ignoring Remus's snickers, "I'm sure he didn't mean it that way. He's only trying to look out for Patton, he's had a particularly hard time with all of this." Janus gave off a noncomential sound somewhere between a disbelieving huff and an irritated snake hiss. Virgil made no comment on what Logan had said, but he did send a scrutinizing look over his way. After a moment, he seemed to have decided something.

"All I'm going to ask of you tonight, is to not show up high, okay?" There was some sort of look about his face Logan couldn't explain. Logan felt hot shame wash over him. Janus and Nate both seemed confused, and Logan didn't know how he was going to explain himself to them. They actually looked up to him, how was he to tell them? Before he could open his mouth, however, Remus jumped to his defence.

"Holy shit, you're an asshole. Damn, can you not be a little bitch for like two seconds and just leave him the fuck alone? We didn't ask to go to your goddamn party you piece of shit!"

"Remus, that's quite enough." Logan said sternly. He was grateful that Remus defended him, but Virgil was right to mock Logan, he was weak and pathetic and deserved the ridicule.

"Bullshit!" Remus snapped at Logan, before turning his attention back to Virgil. "You can't just march right up on here into our home and start throwing insults and threats around and expect us to just take it, General." He sneered the title in a mocking voice. "You aren't Chief Rein of Fear anymore, Logan is. You don't run the show, mkay bitch?"

"Remus." Logan bit. "Are you trying to restart a war?"

"Well, to defend you, maybe we should." Nate barked.

"That's absurd!" Logan practically squacked. "You don't start a war over an insult."

"Hey!" Virgil cut in. "I didn't mean it as an insult. I know Logan's struggling. I just want him to be able to look back on tonight and not regret anything. That won't be able to happen if he's high." Logan felt a sharp shock go through him at Virgil's statement. Nate looked properly abashed, but Remus held no such dignity. He opened his mouth but Janus cut across him.

"Thank you, for inviting us Virgil, we'll be happy to attend." He said hastily.

"Indeed, we will." Logan agreed as Janus began ushering Virgil towards the exit of the dark domain. "Do take care." After the door closed behind Virgil, Janus and Remus began talking, Nate joining in, but Logan could barely hear them over his own thoughts. Time seemed to slow down again and their voices dulled to background noise as he thought.

Virgil's still looking out for me, even though he saw what I did to Tom. It's possible that he's faking concern in order to convince me to arrive sober and sound of mind in order to increase Patton's enjoyment of the night, but the likelihood of that is about equivalent to the likelihood of him genuinely caring about me. Virgil dislikes dark sides not on the principle that we are dark sides but under the belief that we are unwaveringly "bad". Simply, Virgil still believes me to be good, albeit misguided. Therefore, in order to gain Virgil's trust and therein the trust of the others, we must display the traits each of us keeps hidden; Janus his capacity for love, Remus his kindness, Nate his loyalty, and I my weakness. My weakness has been displayed already and therefore it is not necessary to show much of it. Now to highlight the specific traits in them should be simple. I convince them that tonight is not a night for having our guard up. We arrive expecting to be treated with hospitality and return the kindness. Remus will have brought presents for everyone, likely they will be stuffed animals, the purity and innocence of which will pleasantly surprise all the light sides. I can create a few situations in which Nate's loyalty to Remus and Janus can be brought up naturally, and Janus will inadvertently charm them with the way he insists on being of help. After the light sides see the good in us, they will open up to us, and that may lead to a chance to bridge the figurative gap between the light and dark domains. If the dark and the light coexist in harmony, Thomas will be as balanced as a human can possibly be. He will be healthier, happier, and more productive than he ever has been. This could work! But wait… Lucius would never agree to this, he wants total control over Thomas. Simply fixed, he will be disposed of. How though? An uprising. The other three dark sides look up to me, I can lead them on a conquest to free themselves from Lucius's tyrannical control. With me to protect them there is no reason for them to obey Lucius, he cannot hope to best me in combat and therefore has no power over me besides having the other three at his disposal. Overthrow of a king aside, we have a peace mission to plan.

Logan's attention snapped back to reality as time lurched forward to its regular speed. Nate was shouting about how they should still be fighting the light sides over Virgil's actions towards Logan while Remus was yelling obscenities and Janus was shaking his head disappointedly.

"Silence." Logan hadn't raised his voice very much, but everyone quieted immediately. "I have a plan, and I'd like all of you to help." The other three dark sides turned expectant looks to Logan, Remus literally vibrating with excitement. "The mission I am about to give the three of you is not in the slightest sanctioned by the dark one, in fact he can not know about it." Janus suddenly looked nervous, but Remus was beginning to bounce up and down on his toes and Nate grinned devilishly. "Phase one will take place tonight at the light side's Christmas party. This is the most crucial part, the rest cannot take place if this does not go well."

"I thought you didn't want to start things up with the light sides again?" Janus pointed out quietly.

"I don't, phase one is a peace mission. Everything has to go perfectly tonight, I want you three on your best behavior, but try to let your walls down. Let them see you the way you've let me see you recently. They must see you as people if this is going to work."

"With all due respect, I don't think that's going to happen. Winston and Patton may be easy enough to convince, but Virgil and Roman hate us on principle." Janus spoke up again, his eyes cast toward the ground.

"Not on the principle of darkness on the principle of evil. If they see good in you, they'll come around." Logan offered Janus a small smile.

"Okay, but what's the big goal here? The dark one will find out eventually." Nate said.

"And by the time he finds out, he will no longer be our ruler." Logan informed him. "Short term goal is to overthrow the dark one."

"YES!" Remus practically screamed. "I've always wanted to be part of a rebellion!"

"Yo." Nate said.

"Where were you during the first revolt?" Logan asked curiously. "I was surprised you weren't involved."

"There was a revolt?" Remus screeched. "And I wasn't invited?"

"You were in temporary exile, remember?" Janus explained. "We were forbidden from mentioning it after it ended."

"Does that have something to do with his weird collar?" Remus asked.

"Yeah." Nate replied. "I'm surprised you didn't ask about that sooner."

"I just thought he was getting kinky with someone." Remus shrugged. Nate erupted into laughter and Janus pinked slightly and frowned. Logan felt a smile tug at his lips as he shook his head.

"What about the long term goal, Sir?" Janus asked. Logan frowned at the title.

"The long term goal is for the dark and the light to coexist in harmony and peace so Thomas can be happier and more productive."

"Lit." Nate said.

"Yay! We get to be the good guys!" Remus cheered. "So how are we supposed to make them like us, again?"

"Just act the way you do here when the dark one isn't around." Logan told them.

"Should I bring presents? I'mma bring presents." Remus muttered to himself. He then zipped off to his room.

"There's a problem with that. I'm annoying." Nate pointed out.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Logan replied honestly. "Either way, your fierce loyalty and protectiveness over the people you care about will garner their respect, all I ask is try to be nice."

"No promises. Especially if alcohol is involved." Nate told him with a shrug and a smirk. Logan nodded his appreciation for Nate's honesty.

"What about me?" Janus asked quietly. "They're afraid of me. Roman looks at me like a villain."

"He looked at Virgil the same way before, once upon a time." Logan pointed out. "He was faced with Virgil's human aspects, his good side. Roman was the one that really sold Virgil on coming back from ducking out." Janus nodded, seemingly to himself.

"Maybe." He muttered distractedly.

Logan wasn't really ready for the Light Sides' Christmas party. Physically, everything was in order. He had gifts ready to offer to his former family, he had changed up his outfit to be a bit more palatable for them, he had successfully gone the whole day without taking a pill- instead having decided to exercise all day while he was preparing, hoping the endorphins would be enough of a rush for him. It worked well enough for the time being. Mentally, however, was a different story. He was a nervous wreck and if it weren't for his ability to cloak his aura he was sure Virgil would've come plowing through the dark side with a flamethrower, thinking Logan was being murdered. He didn't want to accidentally hurt the light sides again, he loved them too much… well maybe he wouldn't mind hurting Winston a little bit. He looked himself over in the mirror again. Black button down with long sleeves, white bowtie, deep blue silk vest with silver trimming, black slacks, and his new regular heeled black boots. He had done his makeup differently as well. He'd had a lot of time to practice in the last few weeks and after experimenting with many different kinds of tools and materials- some of which only existed in the imagination- he was able to create hyper realistic tears in Patton, Roman, and Virgil's colors dripping down his cheeks. He painted starry skies over his eyelids, wondering what the others would think of the eyeshadow. Would Virgil think it was cool? Would Roman be impressed? Would Patton like the way it looked on him? Logan physically shook himself. They had five minutes until they were expected to arrive. He left his room, patting Daylan on the way out, and made his way through his winding hallways at full speed, levitating the presents behind him. He made his way to the entrance and exit of the dark side where they were to meet up. Janus had presents piled up in his arms, struggling to carry them but as usual, refusing to ask for help. Logan levitated them into the air with a small smile. Janus thanked him quietly. Nate didn't have any presents with him, unsurprisingly. Remus came barreling out of his hall, sliding to a stop near the other three. He had a bag with him and was waving it around excitedly.

"I fit everyone's presents into this bag!" He claimed excitedly. "Lookit Logan! Lookit!" Logan smiled fondly.

"Yes, Remus, excellent work." He told him. Remus beamed proudly.

"Interesting makeup." Nate commented.

"Do you think it's inappropriate for the occasion?" Logan frowned.

"No, I just think it's interesting." Nate said.

"I like it!" Remus claimed loudly. "You look like a hot ghost!"

"You think all ghosts are hot." Janus pointed out, causing the collected sides to laugh. "Should we get going?" He directed his question to Logan.

"That's probably wise." Logan nodded an affirmative. As one, they sunk out and reappeared in front of the entrance to the light domain. Logan was about to knock, but Remus beat him to it, rapping the door enthusiastically. After a brief moment, Patton answered, smiling warmly and brightly.

"Heya kiddos! Glad you could make it!" He said genuinely. Logan allowed himself a small smile but internally reminded himself to keep his emotions in check. "Wow! That's a lot of presents, do you want help with those?" He stepped aside to let the dark sides in.

"Thank you Patton, but levitating light objects like these puts next to no strain on me at all." He directed the boxes to set themselves gently near another large stack under the light sides tree.

"LOGAN SANDERS!" Everyone flinched slightly, but grinned at Princey's loud, boisterous voice. Something heavy collided with Logan's side, and it took him a second to register that the white and red clad prince was tackle-hugging him.

"Salutations, Roman." Logan said fondly as he hugged him back. "I'm glad to see one of the processes was successful. Roman straightened up, looking suddenly awkward.

"Let's not talk about that tonight." He said quietly. His face lit up in a big smile again as Remus pounced with a shout of;

"BROTHER!" The two of them went down in a laughing heap. Logan couldn't remember a time since they were very small that Roman and Remus were getting along together this well.

"I really hope they don't start hanging out again. I'm pretty sure they'd destroy the world." Virgil joked. He was leaning against the wall with a small smirk on his face. "Hey, L, what's up?" Logan looked up, then returned his attention back to Virgil.

"Far too many bundles of Mistletoe." He replied pleasantly. Virgil snorted.

"Truth." He agreed. Remus suddenly squeaked and shot up.

"Guys, guys, guys, guys! I have presents for you!" He crowed, waving his bag around again. "Is Remy coming? If not I could probably drop it off in his closet." The light sides exchanged uneasy looks.

"We did not invite Remy or Caesar." Winston said after a moment. "Considering what happened-" It was the first time Logan had ever seen Winston at a loss for what to say. He wanted so badly to tease him for it, but he held himself back with practiced discipline. Remus saved him by shouting,

"Guys! Presents!" And pulling out a ridiculously large red stuffed dragon from his bag. "ROMAN! PRESENTS!" The energy in the room immediately picked back up as Remus threw the dragon at his brother who caught it, laughing good naturedly. Patton giggled.

"That's so cute!" He said.

"You know what else is cute?" Remus asked him. "Frogs. Frogs are cute." And he pulled a four foot pastel green frog from his bag. The eyes were closed and it's tongue- which was sticking out of a closed smile- was bubblegum pink. There was a soft blue flower on its head. He tossed it to Patton who squealed.

"AAAAAA I love it!"

"Virgil!" Remus shouted next.

"Oh god." Virgil murmured tiredly.

"Please Virgil, call me Remus." Remus wiggled his shoulders suggestively as Virgil rolled his eyes. "Check it out." Virgil's present was a large cartoon bat in varying shades of black and grey with large purple eyes and wings. Virgil smiled when he caught it.

"Thanks Remus." He said shyly.

"Winston…" Remus whispered. "I got you a shirtle." He pulled out a strange looking creature, that was cute nonetheless. It was a soft, pinkish colored turtle with large purple eyes, but instead of a shell it had a large patch of fluffy, curly white wool. "Also can be called a teep." He informed him factually.

"Delightful." Winston said honestly, catching the stuffed animal with a smile.

"Nate! Raccoon!" Remus trilled. Nate suddenly found himself with a face full of raccoon plushie.

"LllllloooOOOOGAaaaaaan!" He sang, withdrawing an enormous unicorn with a flourish and presenting it to him.

"Thank you Remus, it's lovely." Logan said softly, finding that its white fur was incredibly comforting to touch.

"Aaaaaand Janus gets a snek!" It was a two headed snake, in fact. One head was very serious-looking, with squinted eyes, a top hat, and a bow tie. The other head had larger, kinder eyes and a big smile, as well as a bowler hat. Both of them had little tongues sticking out.

"Hold on a minute, did you just call him Janus?" Roman asked, confused.

"That's my real name." Janus told him quietly. "I told everyone it was Janus because I had to lie and it was close." He looked down and blushed shyly. Roman bit his lip to stop himself from laughing, and Patton gave him an, "Are you kidding me? Please be nice." look.

"Hey Pat!" Remus called, once again being the one to take everyone's attention off the darkness of the near past. "Whatever you're cooking smells awesome! What is it?" Patton beamed, and Logan had to fight down a blush.

"That would be the goose." He said brightly. "Thanks for reminding me kiddo! It should be coming out soon!" He put his frog down carefully and trotted off toward the kitchen.

"Would you like help?" Janus offered, already putting down his two headed snake.

"Sure, kiddo, that'd be great!" Patton chirped. So far, everything was going perfectly.


End file.
